Born to Run
by some blue december
Summary: Steve Randle would make a deal with the devil to get Evie back ... or at least one of his least favourite people in all of Tulsa.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders and all the characters associated. Nor do I own 'Born to Run', by Bruce Springsteen.

This fic/chapter is being post as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sue's. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honour.

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Sunday, February 20th, 1966

Steve reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cigarettes, wriggling a little in the driver's seat of his Plymouth to dig a lighter out of his jeans pocket. Tapping out a smoke, he quickly lit up and took a deep drag, keeping his face blank.

This had to be some kinda fucking joke or something.

Looking out his windshield at the girl in the distance he knew it was no joke. It was really happening and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He took another drag on his smoke and scowled. He sure as shit wasn't going to beg. Nor was he about to get out of his car and follow her into the Dingo, making some kind of stupid scene. He had seen Dally and a few of Shepard's guys head in there a while ago and wasn't about to go make an idiot out of himself, especially in front of them and especially not over something like this.

Steve narrowed his eyes and rubbed his knuckles, feeling a little on edge. This had never happened to him before, and he wasn't exactly sure as to how he should be reacting. 'Course he was mad as hell and he was itching to strike out against something so he could let out a little of his anger. Even the idea of punching the lamp post next to his car was kind of appealing.

He'd always had real good luck with girls - never without a date and always with a cute girl. Of course, being best friends with Sodapop made being a ladies man not an easy feat.

But Steve managed it. Rather well in fact.

He knew that not every girl stopping by the DX after school and on Saturdays was there for Soda. It would seem that way, with how they all flirted with him, the way they all found some reason to touch his arm, all sly like. 'Course the way Soda lapped at the attention like a puppy in the desert probably didn't help matters, but Steve had realized earlier on in life that being his normal standoffish and kind of moody self made some girls work harder to get his attention.

This had been realised at the beginning of eighth grade when he was thirteen. Since their first day of school that year, the girls in their class had giggled something mad whenever Soda was around. Steve, though he would never have admitted to it, had been jealous.

He had sulked something fierce whenever those girls were around, giggling at Soda's dumb jokes and telling him how sweet he was. His jealousy was short lived, however, when a month later Leanne Jenks, the prettiest girl in class, had kissed him for five glorious seconds right outside the cafeteria. Right in front of everyone she had told him that she liked how quiet and mysterious he was.

Steve smirked slightly as he remembered a year later when Leanne had let him touch her blouse covered chest for a bit. 'Course he'd had no idea what to do with them once he got them in his hands but he didn't care. And she didn't seem to mind either.

From then on it had been smooth sailing. Sure, he never had as many girls after him as Soda did, but there weren't many who did, especially on the North side. He'd had a few girlfriends and, though he had never been heartbroken only a heart breaker, he had always treated girls fairly well while he was with them.

He had kissed plenty of pretty girls too, often getting to second and a few times third base with one or two of them. He had even been laid a handful of times in the recent months. Needless to say the inexperience he had felt with Leanne didn't last too long and a year or so later he was able to make a broad purr as well as he could make an engine purr.

Steve smirked at that thought. Though it hadn't always been that way, of course; nor had Leanne Jenks technically been his first kiss.

Steve scowled, stubbed out his cigarette and lit another as he remembered his first kiss at the age of five coming about because of a dare from Dally. Had it been any other guy giving him the dare he probably would have turned it down and not even felt like a wimp doing it, but he'd really looked up to ol' Dal then and wanted to impress his already tough friend.

He'd grinned at Dally as they stood on the playground and walked up to the girl who had hated him then and still disliked him to this day. He had grabbed her by her coat covered shoulders and promptly kissed her on the lips. He had earned himself a goddamn punch in the face the second the kiss was over too.

But years later Dally had always said how tuff it was that he was the first of the guys to score a kiss - even if it was followed with a black eye.

Steve didn't feel so tuff right then though. He felt fucking furious. He felt the urge to go and piss someone off just to get into a fight so he could let out some steam.

He kept his eyes on the Dingo for a few more minutes, waiting for Evie to come crawling back but knowing she wouldn't. Pounding the wheel in frustration, he started up his Plymouth, stubbed out his cigarette and pulled away from the curb. Using his knees to drive, he quickly lit up again before turning left at the next intersection.

He blew out his smoke in huffs as he flew down the street, ignoring the speed limit. His fingers slapped tensely against the steering wheel as he figured out what to do, where to go. Making the decision almost too late at the next intersection, Steve took the turn on two wheels. He was going to Buck's, he was going to get fucking shit faced, and he was going to let out his anger by smashing someone's head in. Because for the first time in his life, he had been fucking dumped.

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**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta reading this for me. I appreciate all reviews, including constructive criticism.


	2. You, Me and Friendly Just Don’t Mix

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders

This fic/chapter is being post as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sue's. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honour.

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**Monday, February 21st, 1966**

Anna stopped short as the door came into view. "I think I'm gonna skip," she said, turning and heading in the other direction. She didn't even make it one step before a hand grabbed her arm to stop her.

"No, you're not."

"No, I think I am."

"If you cut, you will get detention."

"I've had detention before. It's really no big deal."

"Maybe. But if you get detention, you'll have to spend an afternoon with Two-Bit."

Anna frowned at her friend as they stood in the middle of the busy hall. "I like Two-Bit," she said.

Kathy sighed in exasperation. "Not right now you don't," she stated.

"Right, because you two have broken up _again_." Anna rolled her eyes at her friend and slowly started towards the door again.

Kathy shrugged. "That boy doesn't know the meaning of the word 'girlfriend'," she said in frustration. "Can you believe the way he was flirting with Linda Jones on Saturday?"

Yes, Anna could believe it. She had seen it happen and heard the story five times after all. Two of those from an indignant Two-Bit who seemed to think "flirting" was an exaggeration.

The two minute warning bell sounded above them and Anna felt her heart sink.

"Look, just don't skip, okay?" Kathy said, placing a hand on her arm before taking off down the hall towards her science classroom.

Anna sighed and unhurriedly continued down the hall, knowing that cutting wasn't really worth the detention she would receive. Everything she would avoid by cutting today would simply have to be dealt with tomorrow.

Finally stopping, she leaned against the lockers behind her and stared hard at the half open door in front of her as other students walked through it, chatting happily. She secretly hoped that if she stared hard enough and put enough pure willpower into it, she could make the door - and the room attached to it – disappear. Burst into uncontrollable flames to be precise.

It wasn't as if it was a hideously ugly door that deserved her hatred of it. In fact it was a simple, wooden door that never once creaked when opened. It had a clean glass square cut into the top of it that she could see right through and a shiny silver handle that was always clean. There was a slight crack in the wood that ran down one side, but that was so close to the ground, no one noticed it anymore.

Yet there she stood at 11am every day of the school week, her eyes burning holes into the door.

Anna huffed out a sigh. The door wasn't even the real problem. It was the classroom and everything behind the door that caused her headaches. The teacher, the students, the subject ... why the hell was math invented anyway?

She had always struggled with math. She got the basics: adding, subtracting, even multiplying. But then, once she had _finally_ mastered those feats, they threw algebra, ratios and fractions at her. _Fractions!_

"Miss Harris, were you planning on joining us today?" The voice of her math teacher called out to her from inside the classroom.

Anna rolled her eyes; the bell to begin class hadn't even rung yet. But of course Mr. Chase would use any reason he could find to reprimand her. The man had it in for her, she was sure.

Anna sighed in defeat. Even if she was still planning to cut class, there was no way she could now. Yanking off the tie she kept on her wrist, she scooped her dark hair up and tied it high on her head, leaving her neck reasonably bare. Somehow this class always ended up with the sun shining directly into the large side windows every morning. And by 11:05am, every person in the class room was wishing it was ten degrees cooler outside.

Slowly she made her way into the already sweltering room as the final bell rang. It wasn't even spring yet for Christ's sake.

Ignoring the glares sent her way, she slowly made her way towards her seat at the back of the room. The being bad at math she could deal with. Mr. Chase she could deal with. Hell, she could even deal with the hour of summer she received every morning. What she couldn't deal with was the company.

The first day of her junior year and, due to Two-Bit and his constant joking around, she had been late for math. Finally reaching the classroom, she found herself in a sea of madras shirts, pastel coloured skirts and grease free hair. Fortunately, the only seat left in the room belonged to the only other greaser in the room. Unfortunately, that greaser happened to be the one greaser in the school she didn't get along with. Even more unfortunate were Mr. Chase's next words.

"Being the stickler for routine that I am, the seats you are all sitting in are the seats you will all be sitting in for the rest of your junior year."

Anna had literally stifled a groan.

Reaching her table at the back of the room, she dropped her books in front of her and climbed onto her seat next to her assigned seat partner. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye she smirked and remembered the little piece of information she had been told first hand just last night.

"Mornin' Stevie," she said sweetly, calling him what he had gone by in elementary school and only allowed his buddies to call him now.

Steve sighed. "Mornin' Annie."

Anna fought a grin. Being called Annie didn't bother her at all.

"How was our weekend?" she asked, directing her grin at him.

Steve Randle turned his head slightly to look at her. Anna saw his blue eyes were blank of any emotion but his jaw was clenched and she was pretty sure he would have hit her had she not been a girl.

"Fuck you," he said.

"Ooh," Anna widened her eyes, pretending to be shocked at Steve's reaction though it had been almost exactly what she had expected. "Not so good huh?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Steve glared at her for a moment. "I heard yours wasn't so great either," he said. "Danny got picked up by the fuzz again huh?"

Anna rolled her eyes at the mention of her brother's delinquency but secretly hated that Steve was right. She hated it when Danny got locked up.

"He was out in time to bring me here this morning," she replied and adding a innocent tone to her voice said, "Was Evie begging you for a ride this morning?"

"You're a real bitch, ya know that?"

Anna shrugged. "You probably think it runs in the family, right?"

Steve didn't get a chance to reply because Mr. Chase began roll call but Anna could tell she had pissed him off. She smirked slightly. It wasn't exactly her life's mission to annoy Steve Randle, but the two of them just didn't get along. Their relationship, if you could call it that, generally consisted of evil glares, angry silences or nasty insults. And with Steve being the mean jerk he was, Anna would take any chance she got to best him.

"Please continue on with your worksheets from Friday," Mr. Chase said loudly. "You're free to work in your seating pairs, just make sure to stay quiet."

A low hum of chattering students filled the room as she opened her math notebook, found the folded worksheet she had slipped in there on Friday and looked at the very few equations she had managed to do. She frowned at the worksheet positive that what she had accomplished was wrong; she just wasn't any good with numbers.

Sighing softly, she spent the next half hour attempting a few of the equations, doodling at the edges of her worksheet and replying to Steve's angry glares with ones of her own. _Just another day in math class,_ she thought idly to herself.

"Would you stop that already?" Steve hissed next to her.

Anna frowned and turned to look at him. He was glaring at her hand which was tapping the end of her pencil against the table top in no particular rhythm. She rolled her eyes but stopped anyway.

Looking back at her worksheet, she shoved the end of her pencil in her mouth and tried to concentrate.

_Convert the following decimals into fractions …_

Anna sighed; there were those damn fractions again. She had no idea how to change a decimal into a fraction. Mr. Chase had shown them, of course, but she just didn't understand how it worked. She got the basics, the ones she had to use for baking, but on the off chance that anything stranger than _¾ of a cup_ came up she had to ring Kathy for answers.

Pulling the pencil out of her mouth, she began absently stabbing at the word, watching small black dots appear. It wasn't until Steve hissed at her again that she realized she her stabbing had become a constant tapping.

"Jesus," Steve whispered, "give it a rest will ya?"

"Wow, you _are _cranky today," Anna replied, dropping the pencil and giving up on her worksheet.

"And you're more annoying than usual today," Steve said.

"I think by _annoying_ you mean talkative," she said.

"Exactly."

"Most people would say that I've been almost pleasant."

"I'm not most people. I don't like you."

"Friendly, even," she continued, pretending she hadn't heard him.

"You, me and friendly just don't mix," Steve said stonily.

She grinned. "Aw, c'mon Stevie, you can't say you didn't know we were gonna have this chat today?"

"I knew the moment you said hello that you were going to be more of a bitch than usual," Steve said.

"You and Evie have broken up!" she said in a joyful tone. "That means there is no more chance of you marrying my cousin and us becoming family."

Steve didn't say anything, just continued with his worksheet with narrowed eyes. Anna couldn't help but notice how easily he was working out his fractions.

"That should make you just as happy as it makes me," she continued, picking her pencil back up.

Steve still said nothing, just sent her another of his glares.

"Can you imagine the family events we would've had to deal with? Birthdays, funerals, weddings, yours included - oh my god. I would probably have been one of Evie's bridesmaids-"

"Shut your goddamn trap," Steve growled, grabbing her wrist and yanking the pencil she was tapping out of her hand. "You'd best be thanking god you've got tits right about now. Stop talkin shit bout me and Evie and stop with the fucking tapping. You can be as happy as you want about it but it ain't gonna last long."

"Is that right?" Anna said, narrowing her eyes and, pulling her wrist back but refusing to rub it in front of him.

Steve ignored her, looking back at his worksheet.

"You think you're gonna get her back?" Anna would have felt bad for him, had he not held her wrist so tight. She had seen Evie at the Dingo last night. It looked as though she had already moved on.

Steve still didn't say anything and Anna got the feeling that their conversation was more than over. The ironic part was, had he and Evie still been together she probably would have been rather pleased with them. The little exchange they'd just had was the most they had spoken to each other in years.

XXXXX

Steve glared at the worksheet in front of him and quickly scrawled down a couple of answers. He was still mighty pissed off but rather surprised at how well he had kept his cool with Anna. Sure, he grabbed her, possibly hard enough to have hurt, but he'd so badly wanted to do more than just that.

He had been expecting this from her, though, he couldn't deny that. He'd managed to escape the whispers and hidden giggles due to most people knowing about his temper, but he'd realized as he'd headed towards math that there was no way to avoid Anna's remarks.

Sure, she knew about his temper as well as anyone, more than a lot of people considering some of the fights they'd had. But she wasn't afraid of him like other people. Steve figured her brother and the company he kept probably had something to do with that.

He couldn't help but continue to throw occasional glares at her. She just annoyed him something fierce. Everything about her had gotten on his nerves since he'd known her. The way she talked, the way she walked, her constant need to tap things. He didn't understand how Two-Bit, and even Soda, could think she was o.k.

"I'm going to hand back last week's homework. Please take the time to look over it," Steve barely heard Mr. Chase; he was too busy being angry at Anna.

There were a few people Steve didn't like. Other than the Socs, there were a few of Shepard's boys he simply couldn't stand and a few greaser girls that irritated him a bit. But none he had to deal with as much as Anna.

He'd done a pretty good job of putting up with her over the years. The beginning of their junior year and having to sit next to each other in math everyday had made things a bit bothersome. 'Course he'd shared classes with her before, he'd known her since grade school, but he'd never had to sit next to her before.

Then he and Evie had gotten together, forcing him and Anna to spend more time together. Family dinners they were both forced into and the double dates Evie liked to go on so fucking much. Steve would have to bring Soda - who never had just one girl - and was always happy to double and Evie would usually talk Anna into coming - at least when she hadn't been dating Bolton. Very quickly the frowns and occasional grumbled arguments turned into glares and nasty fights with both of them saying some pretty cruel shit.

Being a tad hung over and still pissed off about Evie didn't help his reaction to anything Anna had said today. He'd gone to Buck's the night before with Two-Bit and on their drunken walk home he had taken the hubs off some car that was parked down the ribbon. He hadn't wanted the hubs but he was sure the tuff looking Mustang hadn't wanted the fuck ugly hubs either.

Steve scowled. He still couldn't believe Evie had broken up with him because she "wanted to date other people". He didn't know how or when, but he was going to get her back. He wasn't about to let her get away that easily.

"Mr. Randle," Steve looked up to see Mr. Chase handing him his homework with a nice red _92%_ scrawled on it. "Nice work," his teacher said grudgingly. Steve was sure Mr. Chase was just as prejudiced againt him and other greasers as the damn Socs.

Steve sat it on the table in front of him and smirked slightly, knowing what was coming next. His eyes drifted to Anna who was frowning, as though she knew as well.

"Ms. Harris. Please see me after class." Mr. Chase handed the homework to her and Steve glanced at it. _31%_.

"Shit, shit, shit," Anna muttered to herself and Steve saw her turn slightly to face him.

He kept his face cool and his eyes blank as he remembered what a bitch she'd been to him earlier. "Karma sure is a bitch," he said coolly. "Just like you."

XXXXX

Anna watched as Steve smirked at her before taking off out of the class room. Slowly she stood from her seat and packed up her notebook. There was no avoiding Mr. Chase and whatever lecture he was about to give her, but at least if she dawdled a little it wouldn't be done in front of any of the other students, specifically the Socs.

Holding her books in front of her, Anna casually walked up to the teacher's desk, sighing in slight relief when the door closed behind the last student. Stopping in front of Mr. Chase, she waited as he pretended to sort some of the papers on his desk before finally turning to look at her.

"Ah, Miss Harris," he said and Anna was sure she saw a glint of sheer joy in his eyes.

"Mr. Chase," she said as politely as she could. "You wanted to see me?"

"Miss Harris, is it your intention to move on to your senior year come May?"

Anna frowned. What, did he think she wanted to stay a junior forever? She fought back a smirk, Two-Bit would love that. "Of course it is, sir."

"Then why is it Miss Harris that you continue to get bad marks on all of your homework assignments and fail all your tests?" he asked.

Anna sighed. There was no good way to explain it so she just gave the only answer she had. "I'm just no good with numbers sir."

"I think we both know that is not the case," Mr. Chase said. "You simply do not put in the required amount of effort for the class."

Anna couldn't deny that but she didn't think Mr. Chase would be too pleased if she told him that the reason she didn't put the effort in was because she just didn't get it.

"I'm afraid that, what with the marks you have been receiving, if you don't pull your act together, you'll be repeating your junior year."

"What?" Anna shrieked. "I can't repeat my junior year."

"Then I suggest you do something about the grades you have been receiving."

"But what am I supposed to do? I can study harder," she said, leaving out the fact that she hardly studied for math at all, "but it won't help. I swear; I just don't get this stuff."

Mr. Chase nodded. "Perhaps you could get yourself a tutor-"

Anna scoffed aloud. "A tutor?" she interrupted. "What with the thousands of dollars I have sitting in my non-existent bank account?"

Mr. Chase glared at her and Anna realized she should have kept herself in check. Mouthing off to a teacher was not a good move.

"Had you let me finish you would see that I _am_ trying to help you here Anna," he scolded her and Anna hung her head in what she figured was the appropriate amount of shame.

"I'm sure if you asked him politely enough, Mr. Randle would help you out."

It actually took Anna a moment to realize he was talking about Steve. "Steve?"

"That's right. He actually does rather well in math."

"But," Anna sputtered, "why him?"

"Would you rather ask another of your class mates?" Mr. Chase raised his eyebrows at her.

"No. But couldn't I ask someone else, from another math class?"

"I'm afraid not. Study time in class will be increasing over the next few months due to the finals in May. If Mr. Randle, or another member of this class, is tutoring you out of class and helping you in class, your grades should improve drastically. Should that happen, I may be willing to overlook your most recent grades."

Anna didn't know what to say. Ask Steve to tutor her? Normally she would have laughed at the idea of asking Steve for anything, knowing the rejection she would receive. But this was important.

"It is your choice of course," Mr. Chase said as he turned back to his papers. "But it's either this or end up failing."

Anna sighed and walked out of the class. She knew she should have skip.

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**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta reading. All comments are appreciated.


	3. Through His Stomach

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders.

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**Tuesday, February 22nd, 1966**

Class was still a while from starting and Steve was leaning lazily against Two-Bit's locker pretending to listen to some story he was telling about a blonde he'd met the night before, all the while watching Evie out of the corner of his eye.

She was dressed in the same kind of short skirt and tight blouse that every other greasy girl wore, but he was having trouble taking his eyes off of her. He knew what was under the skirt and blouse and he wanted it.

Steve mentally sighed. If simply wanting what was under Evie's skirt and blouse was the only problem, it would be easily fixable with some other girl. However, he not only wanted that, he wanted Evie herself. She was _his_ girl.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He still didn't quite get why she had dumped him. She'd said she wanted to be able to date other people but that just didn't make sense. That was something a guy would say to get out of being with someone. Girls were usually into all that relationship shit.

"Here comes trouble with a capital T," Two-Bit suddenly said in a joyful tone.

Steve dragged his eyes away from Evie's behind to find Two-Bit grinning like a fool. Following his gaze, Steve found Anna and Kathy walking in their direction, seemingly arguing.

"You and Kathy talking yet?" he asked Two-Bit, flipping up the collar of his jacket. He hoped that's why they were heading their way; he didn't feel like dealing with more of Anna's shit right then.

Two-Bit chuckled. "I'm talkin, she ain't."

_Fan-fucking-tastic,_ Steve thought to himself, watching Anna and Kathy stop about ten feet away and continue arguing in low voices. From the determined set to Kathy's jaw, the way her feet were firmly planted and how tightly her arms were crossed, he was pretty damn sure they weren't heading their way so Kathy could try and make up with Two-Bit.

Which only left Anna and her need to annoy the shit out of him. Steve went to steal another glance at Evie, only to find she had already left the hallway.

"Fine!" he heard Anna say as she grabbed something out of Kathy's hands.

"Hey," Kathy said in protest, "you said I could have one."

"Well now you can't," Anna snapped and began walking towards them, carrying a cloth covered plate.

Next to Steve, Two-Bit was chuckling at the exchange and Steve could practically hear the words _chick fight_ running through his head and was sure Two-Bit already had them rolling on the floor in _his _head.

"Steve, Two-Bit," Anna said with a friendly smile and Steve narrowed his eyes at her overly polite tone.

"Ma'am," Two-Bit said, pretending to tip his imaginary hat at her. "Beautiful," he called over to Kathy who just glared back.

"Whaddya want Anna?" Steve asked, not in the mood for games.

Anna grinned at him and Steve took pleasure in the apprehension showing in her eyes. "These are for you," she said holding out the plate.

Steve glared at the plate. "What is it?"

"Cookies," Anna said lifting off the cloth. "Triple chocolate chip, freshly baked this morning and still a little warm."

Two-Bit moaned softly. "Glory, Anna," he said reaching for one.

Steve slapped his hand away. "Don't touch them," he growled. "Who knows what she put in them."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Flour, sugar, eggs-"

"Rat poison, arsenic, bleach."

"I ain't trying to poison you Stevie," she said.

"Says you," he replied. "Now what the hell do you want?"

He watched Anna's eyebrows pucker a little as she bit her bottom lip and she seemed to be thinking something over. He was hoping she would simply change her mind about wanting anything from him and walk off, but finally she just smiled at him again.

"Seriously," she said holding the plate back out. "Just try one."

This time when she lifted off the cloth, Steve caught a whiff of the freshly baked cookies and felt his mouth water. He was so tempted to grab one that he didn't bother stopping Two-Bit from reaching out this time.

"Holy Mother of Christ," Two-Bit mumbled, mouth full of the cookie. "Is there white chocolate in this too? Steve, buddy; you gotta try one of these."

Steve wanted to wipe the victorious grin that spread across Anna's face right off. "I'm fine," he said roughly.

"They're really good," Anna said in what he assumed was supposed to be a tempting voice as she waved the plate in front of him.

"Good? Hell, these are the best damn cookies I ever tasted," Two-Bit said, shoveling more into his mouth. "You ever had one of these, Beautiful?" he called to Kathy who continued to glare back and had begun tapping her foot impatiently.

"Please take one," Anna said.

"Tell me what you want," Steve said and crossed his arms. Tempted as he was, he sure as hell wasn't going to take one. He was pretty certain that if he did that Anna would think she would be able to get whatever she wanted from him and never leave him alone until she got it.

"Fine," she sighed and frowned a little. "But I want you to know that I in no way want to be doing this and that the amount of annoyance you're feeling at having to put up with me this early in the morning is nothing compared to what I'm feeling about doing this."

Steve raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested in where this was going. If Anna was feeling uncomfortable about this, there was a good chance he may enjoy it.

"I need help," she finally said.

Steve smirked. "No shit."

She rolled her eyes at him. "No. I mean I _actually_ need help; with math."

"That's nothin' new; you're terrible at math."

Anna nodded. "Exactly and Mr. Chase told me that if I don't get a tutor I'll fail and have to repeat my junior year. Only problem is that the tutor has to be someone from our class."

Steve frowned as he realised what she was asking him. "You want _me _to tutor you?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

Anna shrugged. "You're the only other greaser in the class," she mumbled.

"Now there's a sure fire way to convince me to do it," Steve said and Anna scowled.

"Why does it have to be someone from your class?" Two-Bit spoke up.

"Something about whoever it is being able to help me in class as well as out," Anna said shrugging again.

Steve saw Two-Bit raise an eyebrow. "And you're actually askin' ol' Stevie here? Hell, I thought you woulda preferred to be a junior again than to do that."

Anna's scowl deepened and Steve took great pleasure in what was going on. There was no way he was going to help of course. Anna was a stupid broad who did nothing but bug him. Watching her squirm because she wanted his help sure was entertaining though.

"So you want me to tutor you in math and if I don't you will fail and probably have to repeat your junior year?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

Anna nodded. "Yes."

"Hmm," Steve pretended to consider the situation as he grabbed a cookie off the plate and bit into it. The air had got to them and they weren't all that warm anymore but Two-Bit had been right. They were the best damn cookies he'd had.

"Good?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow of her own.

Steve shrugged but he could see by the glint in her eyes that she knew he was enjoying the cookie. "Not bad," he said. "But probably not enough to convince me to help you out. I don't like you, remember?"

Steve wasn't surprised to see Anna give him a wide grin. He silently wondered what the hell kind of mental problems she had. One minute she was all smiles and coyness, the next frowns and raised eyebrows. However he didn't expect that the cookies were her only tool for getting his help. Her brother was Tim Shepard's best buddy after all. Anna had a few tricks up her sleeves yet, Steve was sure of it.

"You really think that's the only leverage I came up with?" She shook her head, still smiling. "My baking's real good," she said, "but not that good."

Steve smirked, shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and looked her up and down. "Too bad you ain't got nothin' else I want."

Anna shrugged, still smiling. "I can help you get Evie back."

Steve had not been expecting that and he tensed a little at the mention of his ex-girlfriends name. Quickly he glanced around the hall, hoping no one was in listening distance. He couldn't believe she would bring this up in the middle of the hallway. Sure hardly anyone was around, what with class not being far off, but the stupid broad sure was an idiot.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" he asked.

"You said yesterday-"

Steve cut her off as he pushed himself away from the locker behind him. "I know what I said," he snapped. "What makes you think I want or need _your_ help?"

"You probably don't, I guess. But I figure if Evie were to hear good things about you coming from someone else, especially someone who's never liked you," Anna shrugged, "she might just start to think she's made a mistake. I mean, if she thinks _I_ like you, then she's gotta wonder."

Steve didn't say anything, just glared at the girl in front of him. He could see Two-Bit out of the corner of his eye, watching the exchange with interest.

"Not only that," Anna continued, "but if anyone can find out what Evie is after in her next boyfriend, it's me. We may not be as close as we once were, but we're still family."

The two minute warning bell sounded and Steve decided it was a sign. There was no way this was going to happen. He _didn't _want or need her help. Smirking at Anna he said, "You're a fool if you really think I'd even consider this," and walked off towards his Science class.

XXXXX

The end of day bell had rung and Anna slowly headed out of the school, wondering where she had gone wrong with Steve. Was it the cookies? Was it bringing up Evie? Was it simply that he really didn't like her? She sighed loudly, she'd had the whole thing planned out perfectly since her Home Ec class yesterday and none of it had worked.

After her initial shock yesterday, she had pushed all thoughts of math, tutoring and Steve Randle out of her mind and enjoyed her lunch with Kathy. After lunch she'd had History and had been too busy filling her notebook with notes on a subject she actually sort of understood to worry about math.

Then, nearing the end of the day, Anna had started wondering just how she was going to talk Steve into helping her out. She had considered offering to tutor him in something, but had quickly realized the only subject she probably did any better in than him was Home Ec, a subject he didn't even take for obvious reasons.

She had considered paying him, realising almost straight away she had nothing to pay him with. She had considered begging before pushing that to the back of her mind as a very, very last resort that, even now, she wasn't willing to use. She had even considered having Danny beat him into it. However, as much as she didn't want to admit it, Steve was a good fighter and would probably get in a few good punches of his own.

It was when she'd walked past Evie on her way to Home Ec that she'd had the brilliant idea. Unfortunately, it was only an idea, and only one she could use as leverage. She had to find something to soften Steve up with, something to convince him to actually listen to her in the first place.

Still thinking about it while in Home Ec, the buzzer on the clock in front of her had gone off and Anna had happily pushed the worries away for a moment and grabbed the cloth next to her. Pulling out her cookie tray, she'd grinned at the sight and smell that greeted her. Triple chocolate chip cookies were her favourite.

As she'd begun placing the cookies onto a cooling tray Miss Western had come hurrying over to her. Anna had smirked to herself, noticing the glares she was receiving from the Socs in the class. Not only was Home Ec her best class, it was the one place she did things better than any Soc she knew. Hell, it was the one place she did anything any good at all.

"Goodness, Anna," Miss Western had said, sounding awed. "What on earth have you done this time?"

Anna had grinned at her favourite teacher and told her about the white chocolate. Quickly grabbing the cooling tray with the cloth, she'd offered it to her teacher who had a habit of always trying whatever Anna decided to make. Anna didn't mind. Being that the only thing she thought herself good at was baking, she was actually flattered every time Miss Western oohed and aahed over her baked goods.

"Oh Anna, you could make any man do anything you wanted with these," she had said between bites of the still hot cookie. "In fact, do you mind if I take a couple of them home with me?"

Anna had stared at her teacher, eyes wide. "Of course Miss Western," she'd said, deciding she owed the lady much more than a couple. "You can take the whole lot if ya like."

The way to a man's, well anything, was through his stomach after all.

Unfortunately for Anna, things hadn't quite turned out that well. _Not with Steve anyway,_ she thought with a roll of her eyes as she headed out the doors and towards the parking lot. Not needing the plate of cookies once Steve had sauntered off, she had given the plate to Two-Bit who, an hour later during their Science class, had offered her everything under the sun for more cookies.

Then, unwilling to piss Steve off anymore than she usually did, Anna hadn't said a word to him in math. He didn't seem to mind either, what with the way he completely ignored her. Of course this only earned her a questioning raised eyebrow from Mr. Chase to which she had tactfully ignored.

Now Anna was out of ideas and had spent the whole day worrying about it. Looking around for her brother's car she sighed as she saw him sitting on the hood, smoking with Two-Bit. She hadn't mentioned her possible failure of her junior year to her brother yet and just hoped that Two-Bit hadn't opened his mouth either.

"Hey," she called as she reached them.

Danny nodded at her. "How was your day, kid?"

"Fine," she lied, relieved that Two-Bit obviously hadn't said anything. Danny would have been on her case already if he knew. "Hey, are we going to see Grandpa tomorrow?"

"Told ya we would, didn't I?" Danny said and Anna grinned. Their only living grandparent was their mother's dad who lived in a little place just outside of Tulsa. With Anna's dad being a drunk who liked to yell and her mother having taken off when Anna was twelve, her Grandpa Joe was the only person she loved as much as her big brother.

"Yes," she said, "but you also told me you wouldn't go gettin' yourself locked up last weekend."

Danny chuckled and climbed down from the car. "Get off my car Mathews," he said.

Two-Bit grinned and made a show of carefully getting off the car before noticing something further down the parking lot and frowning a little. "Stupid broad," he said in a low voice.

Anna turned to find Evie flirting with Terry Armstrong. Her hand was resting softly on his arm and she was smiling coyly at him.

"I heard Evie and Randle broke up over the weekend. She did the dumping huh?" Danny said from next to her.

"Uh-huh," Anna said as the three of them watched her cousin. "Broke up with him on Sunday."

"S'pose that's why he looks like he's ready to pound Armstrong then," Danny said.

Anna and Two-Bit both looked at Danny then followed his gaze back to see Steve standing at the edge of the parking lot, glaring at Evie who was practically pressing herself against Terry. Next to her Two-Bit cursed loudly.

Turning back, Anna watched as Evie got into Terry's car and the two of them squealed out of the parking lot. Looking back at Steve she wondered why he hadn't tried anything with Terry. He had a temper and, while his fists were clenched and he did look ready to hit someone, his face was completely calm. The three of them were still watching him a moment later when he turned and faced them.

"Time to go Miss B," Danny said, calling her by the nickname he'd given her.

"In a minute," she said stepping forward a little. Steve was heading their way and as pissed off as he may be, surely he wasn't stupid enough to have a go at her for watching while Danny was around.

Steve took Two-Bit's offered cigarette as he reached them and looked steadily at her as he lit it. "We'll do this when it suits me and only when it suits me and you'll damn well listen to every word I say," Steve said. "Be at my place after dinner tonight."

Anna blinked in surprise and Two-Bit turned to her and grinned as Steve took off towards his own car. "Looks like you got ya self a tutor Anna."

Anna grinned back at him. Sure Evie was being a bit of a bitch and she felt a little bad for Steve, but things had worked out rather well for her.

"Tutoring for what, Anna?" Danny's voice came from right behind. She grimaced a little before glaring at Two-Bit who, for all the hell he'd just caused her, simply laughed and ambled after Steve.

"Um," she said, turning to face her brother and trying her best to look the picture of innocence. "Auto mechanics?"

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**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading this. All comments are welcome and appreciated.


	4. And So It Begins

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders :)

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**Wednesday, February 23rd, 1966**

The following day after school Anna could feel her brother giving her looks out of the corner of his eye as he drove towards Grandpa Joe's house. They weren't exactly angry looks, she would be more inclined to call them curiously annoyed, but it was a good twenty minute drive from Will Rogers to their grandpa's and the fifteen minutes that had gone by so far had been utterly silent, making the looks more unsettling than they needed to be.

Anna knew the looks weren't about her failing of math. Danny was still pissed off about that, Anna had a feeling he would be for some time, but after a nice long lecture on his behalf and some promises from Anna to really try harder, he'd let it go for the time being.

So after the fifteen minutes of silence and strange looks, and no reason that Anna could think of for them, she decided to get to the bottom of it. It wasn't like her brother to simply stare at her if he had a problem. He was more the kind of guy to start yelling right away.

"What?" she asked, turning to steadily look at him as he drove.

"What, what?"

"Whaddya keep lookin' at me like that for?" she asked.

Danny glanced at her. "Lookin' at ya like what?"

"Like that! You've been giving me those weird looks since I got in the car. What's goin' on?" she said.

"Who says something's goin' on?"

Anna smirked. "I do. You're my brother, I know when something's up."

Danny gave her another look. "I saw you talkin' to Bobby Miller today."

"So?"

"So, whaddya think you're doin' talkin' to a greaser like that?" Danny asked.

Anna frowned. "You mean a greaser like you? He's in Tim's gang with you ain't he?"

"That's my point," Danny said glancing at her again. "He ain't good enough; you need to stay away from him."

"I need to stay away from him? You realise you can't go tellin' me who I can and can't talk to right? I'm gonna be seventeen in a couple of months."

"That don't mean nothin'," Danny said. "You're still my little sister and I ain't about to go lettin' ya date another screw up like last time."

Anna let out a huff of laughter. "And by last time you mean Ricky Bolton? After what happened with him do you really think I'm lookin' to go getting involved with anyone?"

"You mean after you became the talk of the whole school for how easy ya were?" Danny said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Yeah, after that," Anna said, fighting the blush that was rising up her neck. She hated her that her brother had heard those rumours as much as she hated the rumours themselves and almost as much as she'd hated not being able to deny that the one about giving it up to Ricky had been true. She'd tried of course, but Danny knew her too well and could see she was lying right off. At least Ricky had suffered a broken nose and cracked ribs afterwards, thanks to her brother.

"Look, I don't mind if ya go gettin' involved with someone," Danny said, pulling up outside Grandpa Joe's house, "just so long is it ain't someone like Bobby Miller."

She watched as her brother climbed out of the car. "What about Tim Shepard?" she muttered to herself, grinning at the thought of the sexy gang leader, her brother's best friend. She'd had a tiny little crush on him since she was fourteen, not that she'd ever tell Danny that. She had a feeling that Tim knew, but thankfully he'd never said a word about it.

Climbing out of the car Anna followed her brother up the driveway to the front steps and waited as Danny knocked on the door. She heard a few loudly muttered curses from inside as someone stumbled to the door and grinned.

"Bout bloody time you two came to see me," her grandpa grumbled as he opened the door for them.

"Hey, Grandpa," Anna said happily stepping into the house and hugging him.

"Yeah, yeah," he continued to grumble, patting her on the head.

She handed over the muffins she had brought him and the three of them headed into his kitchen where Grandpa Joe put the kettle on before grabbing out two bottles of coke as Anna and Danny sat at the table.

"How you kids doin'?" he asked, sitting down with them.

"We're fine Grandpa," Danny said. "How've you been?"

Grandpa Joe waved a hand in dismissal. "I don't have you kids comin' round here so I can talk about myself," he said, "tell me what the two of ya have been up to lately."

Anna grinned and she and Danny began telling Grandpa Joe what was safe for him to hear. Anna told him about spending Saturday doing makeovers with Kathy, but kept out the part about it being for the party at Buck's later that night. Danny told him about the scratches on his car, keeping quiet the part that resulted in him getting hauled in for jumping the guy that did it.

"Sounds good, sounds good," Grandpa Joe said, getting up to make his tea. "An' you still with that pretty young thing, Danny? Ruth something or other?"

"Yeah," Danny grinned and Anna rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand Danny' on-again off-again girlfriend, Ruth Goodall.

"An' what about you, Anna? Any boys causin' you trouble?"

She should see it as patronizing that Danny's girlfriend was a 'pretty young thing' and any boy who may have liked Anna was 'causing her trouble' but Anna couldn't help but grin.

"Na, no boys," she said.

"Good, good. And how's that father of yours treatin' ya?"

"Aw, you know what Dad's like," Danny said evasively.

"Yeah, that's why I'm askin'," Grandpa Joe continued.

"He hasn't been too bad lately," Anna said, not outright lying but only telling a half truth.

Since their mother had left, Stan Harris had a habit of getting drunk and taking out his anger on his kids. He'd never laid a hand on either of them, but his yelling and bad moods were bad enough. Most of it was directed towards Anna who, at first hadn't understood why . As she got older she'd realised it had had everything to do with how similar she was to her mother.

"Right, well how's school goin' then?" Grandpa Joe asked, sitting back at the table.

Anna pursed her lips and ignored her brother who was smirking at her over Grandpa Joe's shoulder, practically begging her to try and lie outright to Grandpa Joe. He knew as well as she did that she simply couldn't do it and that, for the first time in her life, Grandpa Joe may just get angry at her.

"Not so good,' she finally said.

"Not so good huh?"

"Yeah. I'm failing math," she said. "But it's o.k. I've got a tutor now."

"An' how's that goin'?" Grandpa Joe asked.

Anna frowned and remembered her first tutoring session the night before. Horrendous wasn't a bad enough word for it. She had arrived at Steve's after dinner, as told to, and had spent the next hour arguing with him because she didn't understand what he was trying to teach her.

"You're not explaining this any better than Mr. Chase," she had snapped at Steve.

Steve had simply frowned at her and tried again, but no matter how many times the words were repeated to her, Anna still didn't get it. An hour and a half after her arrival Steve had ordered her out of his house and during the few blocks walk home she had sworn black and blue to herself that she was not going back there.

Unfortunately she had mentioned beforehand to Danny that her next tutoring was the following night so she didn't think she really had a choice in the matter. At least Steve had kept his mouth shut at school with Mr. Chase giving them an actual lesson that day rather than letting them work alone.

"S'not going so well," she finally told her Grandpa who nodded.

"Just like your grandma you are," he said, getting up to pour some more tea. "She was never any good with numbers."

Anna couldn't help the smirk that was directed at her brother.

XXXXX

Steve was sitting on the couch on the front porch when he heard the car pull up. He scowled, knowing exactly who it was. Stubbing out his smoke he glanced up and saw Anna sitting with her brother in his car, and he was pretty sure they were arguing.

He smirked at that. First she was arguing with Kathy yesterday and now her brother. He liked that, as much as she seemed to like getting on his nerves, others seemed to do a fine job at getting on hers too.

Lighting up another cigarette, Steve watched as Anna finally climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She made her way up the walkway with an angry frown on her face as her brother drove off and Steve had to fight off a grin. Sure a pissed off Anna wasn't really a good thing for him, but he still liked that someone had managed to piss her off. It made his job of getting to her while she tried to annoy him a whole lot easier.

Sighing he realised it actually made his "job" a whole lot harder. Pissing each other off was just a part their every day life, especially hers, but now that he had to tutor her … Steve took a deep drag of his smoke and became quickly aware that Anna being pissed off was going to make today's tutoring even harder than yesterday's had been.

He still couldn't believe he'd agreed to tutor her. He wanted to think that the little broad had been conniving and had somehow managed to manipulate him into doing it but he knew that wasn't true. It had been his own decision; one that had been made the moment Evie had taken off in Armstrong's car. Armstrong - who was well known around school for being popular with the girls.

Steve had been quietly fuming when he'd seen that and at that point, seeing Evie moving on to another guy, he hadn't been able to see any other way of getting her back. At that point, a few good words from Anna had seemed like a good idea.

Now, with one tutoring lesson out of the way and who knows how many more to go, Steve was wishing he'd never agreed to it. Dealing with Anna in math everyday was bad enough; spending extra time with her out of school was pure hell. He wasn't about to go ending their deal though. Even if Anna was no help with Evie, Steve was no quitter.

"Anna," Steve said in greeting as she made her way up the porch steps.

A scowl was the only reply he received and Steve had to smirk at it. "What's got your panties in a knot?" he asked.

She glared at him for a moment before grinning. "Thinkin' about my panties is just gonna get you in a whole bunch of trouble, Stevie," she said.

Steve rolled his eyes. Trust her to turn things around on him like that. He hated to admit it but she often managed to get to him with her quick remarks. His were always meaner, but hers were always more clever.

"The day I'm thinkin' about your panties, Anna, is the day Two-Bit gives up beer," he replied stubbing out his smoke and getting to his feet. "And we both know that ain't ever gonna happen."

"Thank god for that," he heard Anna mutter as he turned and led her inside.

"So? What're you all pissed off about?" he asked again.

She sighed. "I was kinda hoping Danny woulda forgotten that I had planned on coming here this afternoon. But as you can see, he unfortunately remembered just fine."

Steve smirked. "Tryin' to sneak your way outta this already? That's slack Anna, real slack."

"No I'm not," she said. "I just didn't wanna put up with any of your smart-ass comments today."

"Like I have to put up with yours everyday?" Steve said, looking at her over his shoulder as they headed into the kitchen.

Anna smirked at him. "I didn't give you any smart-ass comments today," she said.

"The first thing you said to me when you got here was smart-ass," Steve said with a snort and sat at the kitchen table. "I'm startin' to wonder if you know how to talk without bein' a smart-ass."

"Maybe, but you're no better. In fact you're probably worse," she said sitting opposite him.

Steve stared at her for a minute. "Must you have an answer for everything?"

Anna grinned. "Everything but algebra."

"Well, did you at least _understand _anything Mr. Chase was talking about today?" he asked, glad to change the subject.

Anna snorted. "You're kidding me right? The most I understood was roll call. Everything after that is a bit of a blur."

"So, do you understand algebra at all?" he asked not feeling at all optimistic.

"I'm supposed to figure out what _'x'_ is, right?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at the confused look on her face. "That's it?"

"Pretty much," she said.

Steve sighed and opened his math notebook to the page he'd written today's notes in. The girl was impossible and he was sure it was going to be a long night.

XXXXX

"I just don't get it," Anna said an hour later.

"Glory, Anna, how can you not get it?" he asked, leaning back in his chair and frowning at her.

"I just don't."

"But it's so simple,"

"Well I'd hardly call it simple," she said, chewing on her pencil.

Steve sighed in frustration and pushed his notebook across the table. Grabbing his comb out of his back pocket he ran it through his hair and glared at Anna. As far as he was concerned she was being deliberately unhelpful. She just responded to his glare with a raised eyebrow and he couldn't help but snap at her.

"You're doing this on purpose aren't ya? This stuff is not hard to understand. How can you not get it?" he said.

"I am not doin' this on purpose. You think I actually like bein' here?" she said.

"Considering how badly this is all goin' and how much longer teachin' you all of this is gonna take, I'm startin' to wonder," Steve said.

"Trust me, Stevie; I do not want to be here. In fact I would rather be anywhere but here."

"Then why aren't you even trying?" he asked.

"I am trying! It's not my fault I don't understand this stuff."

"You mean it's not your fault that you're stupid?"

Anna glared at him and Steve just stared back, waiting for her to yell at him and hoping that she would. He wasn't in the mood for helping her anymore, not when everything he tried to teach her went in one ear and out the other. He just wanted her to leave so he could go back to Soda's. If they happened to yell at each other a bit before she left, well, he was in the mood for a fight, even if it wasn't physical.

"Ya know," Steve said, deciding to egg her on, "you wouldn't even hafta be here if you weren't such an idiot."

Steve could practically see the fury burning in Anna's eyes and he smirked at her as she slammed her notebook closed and stood from the table.

"Yeah, well maybe Evie wouldn't have dumped you if you weren't such a jerk," she said.

"Evie didn't dump me cuz I'm a jerk," he said, realising too late the opening he'd just given her.

Anna grinned though her eyes were still furious. "That's right," she said, "she dumped you because she wanted to date other people. Hmm, doesn't say a lot about you as a boyfriend does it?"

Steve glared.

"Or maybe it wasn't the 'boyfriend' part that was the problem," she continued. "Terry Armstrong does have quite the reputation, if you know what I mean."

"Shut your fuckin' trap," Steve said.

"Or what?"

Steve glared at Anna and stood from the table with clenched fists, hating that the anger and defiance in her eyes never wavered. Silently he cursed her brother and his friends. They were the reason his temper never scared Anna. She had seen just as bad in her own house, what with Tim Shepard often being there.

"Or you can get the hell outta here," he said, hoping she took his advice before he did something he'd regret … maybe.

"That is probably the most useful thing you've said all night," she said and grabbing her book and pencil, stormed out of the kitchen.

Steve glared after her, waiting until the door had slammed shut before he sat back down and ran his comb through his hair again.

"Stupid broad," he muttered, rubbing his hands over his knuckles.

He'd wanted to fight with her, to argue about something with her, but as usual it just left him mighty angry afterwards. She always managed to get under his skin and really piss him off. He didn't know what it was about her, she just bothered him and he just didn't like her.

Scowling, Steve stood up and stormed outside, heading for Soda's. Of course had it not been for Anna, he would've been there an hour ago. He wouldn't've had to have left at all after school and he could've spent the night hanging with his buddies, playin' poker or football, instead of trying to teach some idiot girl algebra. He was once again glad he'd already agreed to working on Two-Bit's car that Sunday, getting him out of tutoring Anna.

Steve sighed and kicked a stone in front of him knowing that, as angry as she made him, he still wasn't going to give up. If she were to quit instead, then fine. He would just have to get Evie back on his own somehow.

But he wasn't about to go tellin' her that the deal was off. He wasn't about to go and give her the satisfaction of being the one to quit. No matter how much he hated Anna, he was no quitter. Whether it was stubbornness or pride, he didn't know, but he wasn't going to let her win.

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**A/N:** Thanks again to RileysMomma for beta-reading and all comments are still very much appreciated :)


	5. How to tell Lies

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders.

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**Monday, February 28th, 1966**

"Me and Two-Bit got back together last night," Kathy said quietly from her seat next to Anna.

Anna turned in the passenger seat to look at Kathy as she drove down a quiet street heading towards the Dingo. Kathy didn't meet her gaze and Anna narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. "I didn't see that one coming."

"Liar," Kathy said.

"No kiddin'. How'd he talk you into takin' him back this time?" Anna asked.

"With a bit of sweet talkin' and some words of love," Kathy said.

"The same sweet talking and words of love he talks you back with every time?"

Kathy frowned at her out of the corner of her eye. "Didn't you say just a week ago that you liked Two-Bit?"

Anna smiled. "I do," she said. "But sometimes I don't like how he treats you."

"He don't mean to hurt me," Kathy said.

"I'm sure he doesn't," Anna said. "Not intentionally anyway."

"He does care about me," Kathy said, sounding as though she were trying to convince Anna.

"Hey, you don't gotta tell me. I'm the one he begged to set you up with him," Anna said as the pulled onto the Ribbon.

It was true. Two-Bit did care about Kathy. That much was made obvious when they were together or when Two-Bit was trying to get back into Kathy's good graces. What bothered Anna was the way the two of them were constantly breaking up due to his flirting with other girls.

Anna loved seeing the two of them together, they were always so much happier together than apart. But it bothered Anna the way Kathy always took Two-Bit back even though he'd hurt her. Kathy normally wasn't one for being messed around by anyone, but when it came to Two-Bit Mathews, well Anna just assumed that's what it was like to be in love.

"I know," Kathy said, "but you're my best friend and I don't want you to hate my boyfriend."

"Ha. I'm not sure it's even possible to hate Two-Bit," Anna said honestly. "There seems to be some kinda redeeming quality about him."

"That's true," Kathy said grinning.

"I can never stay mad at him," Anna continued. "No matter how loud and annoying he can be, or how much he teases me or even if you're mad at him. I just can't stay angry at him."

"Unlike Steve?" Kathy asked as they pulled into the Dingo parking lot.

Anna groaned. "Do not get me started on him," she said. "I cannot think of a more frustrating person. I swear, Kathy; sometimes I think he lives just to annoy me. That he wakes up every morning and thinks to himself 'Hmm, what can I do today to piss Anna off?' "

"I'm sure he thinks the same about you," Kathy said. "You do have a habit of saying anything you can to get to him."

Anna huffed. "Well, maybe if he wasn't so easy to get to."

The wind that was picking up was not helping the already chilly February air and the two girls quickly climbed out of the car and made their way into the Dingo.

"What happened yesterday?" Kathy asked as they relished in the blast of hot air from the heater above the doorway. "I though you said tutoring was every Tuesday, Wednesday and a couple of hours on Sundays?"

Anna nodded and looked around the restaurant grimacing inwardly when she spotted Sylvia and Evie waving them over. "It is," she said, "but Steve said on Tuesday that he already had plans for yesterday so we skipped it."

Kathy nodded. "I think Two-Bit said something last night about Steve working on his car yesterday."

"Whatever," Anna shrugged. "C'mon, Evie and Sylvia are calling us over."

"So?" Kathy said bitingly.

Anna laughed, glad that her best friend shared her aversion of Sylvia Kirk. "So as much as you want to, we can't just ignore them."

Anna waved back to Evie and they made their way over to the two girls who already had food.

"We could," Kathy said quietly as they reached the booth.

Anna just grinned. "Hey," she said, sitting opposite her cousin and unbuttoning her coat.

Sylvia immediately began grilling Kathy about some fight Kathy had seen Dallas get into over the weekend while Evie reached over and squeezed Anna's hand. Anna grinned back. She loved her cousin to bits and even though they weren't as close as they had once been - high school and growing up had resulted in them growing apart - they were still cousins and they tried to hang out every now and then.

"I missed you in school today," Evie said, popping a fry into her mouth. "How was your weekend?"

Anna smirked and grabbed one of Evie's fries. "Quiet. I spent most of it holed up inside catching up on school work and avoiding my dad."

Evie grimaced. "Well, don't worry," she said, "you hardly missed anything. Buck's party was boring and nothing else was happening anyway. In fact staying in probably would've been more fun."

"Speaking of Buck's," Anna said with a grin as she drummed her fingers against the table. "I heard you went with Terry Armstrong."

"And what a mistake that was," Sylvia said, joining their conversation.

Anna raised an eyebrow at her cousin and demanded details.

"Well it wasn't too bad to begin with," Evie said. "He bought me drinks, we flirted and danced and we were having a great time. But then he got disgustingly drunk, tried to feel me up in front of everyone and finally puked all over my shoes. He's supposed to be known for being a ladies man and he does that?"

Anna laughed. "Not your red heels I hope?"

"Yes my red heels!" Evie said. "I was so angry I almost slapped him in front of every one."

"You should've," Sylvia said, picking at her nails. "The guy deserved it. Especially when he tried convincing you to go upstairs with him after he threw up on you."

Evie shrugged and grinned at Anna. "Oh well," she said, "it wasn't exactly going to last between us anyway."

"Ah yes, because you're a free woman now, able to date whomever you please," Kathy said.

"That's right, and I've never been happier."

"Too bad Steve doesn't feel the same," Kathy said.

Evie glanced at Kathy before looking back at Anna who knew exactly what was coming and was wondering if she was really going to be able to do it, if she was really going to be able to lie about Steve Randle and what a great guy he was.

XXXXX

Steve both loathed and loved working nights at the DX.

The downside of it was that after 5pm Soda and the other guys would head home leaving him alone for the night. Being alone at work never bothered him, but work was always more fun with Soda around.

In fact, other than not having Soda there to joke around and talk with, Steve almost preferred being alone at work as long as there were cars to work on. It gave him time to work on any of the cars that were there without any stupid interruptions from any of the other guys. The fact that it was never busy after 6pm, especially on a Monday, was an added bonus. Hardly any customers to bother him while he worked and the few that did turn up only wanted a bit of gas or a coke.

Steve lifted his head out of the car he was working on and looked at the clock which read 7:58pm. Rubbing the back of his hand on his forehead, and inadvertently rubbing a streak of grease on it in the process, he closed the hood of the car and headed back into the front store, ready to close up for the night.

After washing his hands, switching off the pumps, turning off the lights and locking up the cash register, Steve shrugged on his jacket and headed out into the night, flipping on the closed sign and locking the door behind him.

Reaching the cool air and gusty wind he flipped up the collar of his jacket and wished he'd decided to drive to work instead of walk. Now he had a long walk back home and only a not particularly warm leather jacket to keep the wind off.

Once he was far enough away from the DX, Steve pulled his smokes and lighter out of his pocket, sticking a smoke loosely between his lips and cupped a hand over the smoke to light up. Taking a deep drag he enjoyed the warmth it sent down his throat and continued home, lowering his head against the wind and thinking about the car he had just been working on.

He had replaced the brake fluid but was pretty sure it was gonna need whole new brake pads. The guy who'd brought it in had said the brakes were squeaking almost every time he pushed on them, a sure sign of used up brake pads, but Billy had told Steve to just do the brake fluid and they'd go from there.

Not being in the mood to piss his boss off, Steve had done exactly as asked making a note to tell Soda his theory in the morning. He knew Soda would check it out if Steve said he was sure about it.

Crossing the road Steve heard an engine rumbling behind him and turned to look. He glanced over his shoulder at the green Mustang before turning back, not wanting to show too much interest in the tuff looking car when he didn't know who was driving it.

Glancing down the street he was crossing, he scowled, spotting Evie's house. He hadn't seen her at all over the weekend, choosing to stay in and play poker with Soda rather than heading to Buck's party. He'd only caught a glimpse of her in school that day but he'd heard all about Armstrong emptying his guts onto her shoes though and hadn't been able to stop the smirk at that image.

He kinda missed her though. He'd never admit it, probably not even to Soda and he hated admitting it even to himself, but there it was. They had been together for almost six months when she had broken up with him. It had been the longest he'd ever stuck with a girl and he'd actually been a little upset when she'd ended it. Something else he'd never admit.

He glanced out the corner of his eye as the car finally drove past, realising how long it had taken to do so and wondered if he recognised it or if he just thought he did. Staring right back at the three guys in the car Steve flicked away his butt and lit up again.

They were Socs; that was for sure. The car turned right at the next intersection and Steve cursed the bastards inside it. His own car was tuff enough, for a greaser's car. It had been stolen and abandoned some time ago and Billy, knowing Steve was almost desperate for a car of his own, had talked his buddy at the police station into letting Billy take it. His 1960 Plymouth was real in good condition and as nice a car as he could hope for, but it was no Mustang.

Suddenly it clicked and he remembered where he'd seen the Mustang before and when he heard the rumble of an engine behind him again, wished he'd taken after Two-Bit and carried a switch of his own wherever he went.

He glanced up at the approaching street, deciding a stop in at the Curtis' might not be a bad idea. There were three guys in that car and he had no weapon at all. He wasn't afraid of these guys, but he wasn't stupid enough to consider fighting his way outta this. Soda's place was just around the corner and stopping there seemed like the best idea.

Plus the less time he had to be at home on a night his old man wasn't working the better.

Picking up his pace as subtly as he could he took another drag on his cigarette, hunched his shoulders a little more and kept his face calm. These guys were pissed at him for taking their hubs the last week but Steve wasn't about to let them think he'd actually done anything wrong. He wasn't stupid enough to try fight his way out, but he would bluff all he could if it was gonna help any.

Turning the corner onto North St. Louis, Soda's house came into view and Steve crossed the street before the car could follow him around the corner and picked up his pace a little more. As he flicked away the last of his smoke he heard the car turn the corner and speed up behind him.

It didn't matter though. Steve grinned at his own great timing when he opened the gate to the Curtis' just as the Mustang slowed right down to a crawl next to him. Not even stopping to glance at the car, Steve unhurriedly made his way up the porch and inside.

XXXXX

"Has he been extra horrible to you in math?" Evie asked, leaning forward.

Anna paused. As long as it wasn't to her grandpa, she could lie well enough. It was a given in their neighbourhood that you had to be able to lie and she'd done it enough and watched her brother do it enough to know how to do it well. Whether it was lying to Danny about a party she'd been to or lying to the fuzz about when was the last time Tim Shepard had been at her house, she knew how to lie.

But still, lying about how _nice_ Steve Randle was being … well maybe she should just pace herself. A little bit now, a little bit next time. No point in going overboard and making it obvious that she was outright lying.

"Actually he hasn't been too bad," she said somewhat honestly. Their math lessons at school weren't where she and Steve had been having their problems lately, seeing as how Mr. Chase was still teaching rather than letting his students work alone.

It was during the few hours Steve had spent tutoring her that they'd fought. But Evie didn't know about the tutoring, no one except Mr. Chase, Kathy, Danny and Steve's buddies knew about the tutoring. Anna had a feeling Steve didn't want people knowing he was helping her out, partly because he hated her, partly because he didn't want anyone knowing she was helping him back.

"Really? I expected him to be really moody considering everything," Evie said.

"Well," Anna began, "he hasn't been happy that's for sure. But he's been a lot nicer to me lately than what he used to be." She supposed his useless attempts at helping her could be thought of as "nice" even if he was doing it for his own reasons.

"Steve Randle is being nice to you?" Sylvia asked with one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised. "Are you serious?"

"I didn't say he was being nice," Anna said and Kathy smirked from her seat next to her, "just that he's been _nicer_ that normal."

"In what way?" Evie asked, unable to keep the interest out of her voice.

Anna smiled a little, hoping she was playing this out right. "Well, don't say anything because I'm kinda embarrassed and don't want too many people to know about it, but Steve has actually been tutoring me in math."

"What?" Evie and Sylvia practically screeched the word at the same time.

"Yeah," Anna lowered her voice and leaned in, laying the secretiveness of the situation on thick, "my math teacher said if I don't get a tutor then I'll fail math and have to repeat my junior year."

"That's terrible," Evie gasped.

Anna nodded. "I know. And when he said it had to be someone from my own class, well that only really left Steve, being that he's the only other greaser."

"And he agreed? Just like that?"

"Well, not exactly. I had to bribe him with some cookies and he took a while to think about it. But in the end, yeah, he agreed." Anna didn't even consider mentioning the extra bit of bribery she'd had to use.

"So he's actually been tutoring you in math?"

"Yep."

"And it's been going well?" Evie sounded dubious and Anna couldn't blame her.

"Well it hasn't been going terrible. In fact if you two were still together you'd probably be proud of how we haven't killed each other yet,' Anna said remembering a similar thought she'd had last week.

Evie opened her mouth to reply but Sylvia got in first. "Wait," she said, holding up a hand in protest, "you're telling us that you and Steve are getting along? That he is willingly helping you out with something and being _nice_ about it?"

"_Nicer,_" Anna corrected again.

"I don't believe it," Sylvia said and Anna remembered why it was she and Sylvia had never really become friends. The girl was much too opinionated for Anna. She couldn't just take everything as it seemed.

"Why not?" Kathy spoke up.

"It's just too unlikely," Sylvia said, "you two just don't get along."

"I never said we were getting along," Anna said with as much patience as she could muster. "Just that we haven't killed each other yet."

Sylvia was looking at her as though she didn't believe a word she was saying while Evie's was looking somewhat pleased.

"Well I knew he wouldn't be happy about me breaking up with him like that but I'm glad he's not taking it out on you," she said before waving the waitress over.

Anna fought off a grin. She hadn't expected Evie to fall head over heels for Steve again just from the little bit she'd said today, but in Anna's opinion the whole conversation had gone extremely well. She hadn't laid anything on too thick but she'd given it just enough to make Steve out to be almost _nice_.

"I'm gonna go to the toilet," she said standing up and looking at Kathy. "You wanna come?"

Kathy nodded and Anna climbed out of the booth after her.

"That was too easy," Kathy muttered as they headed towards the girls toilets.

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**A/N:** More thanks to RileysMomma who beta-read this for me.

I love all feedback, leave me a review and let me know what you do or don't like :)


	6. The Truce

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders

This fic/chapter is being post as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sue's. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honour.

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Wednesday, March 2nd, 1966

"Do you need me to pick you up tonight?" Danny asked as he pulled up in front of Steve's place.

Anna shook her head and stared up at Steve's house. The absolute last thing she wanted was to go in there but, unfortunately, there was no choice in the matter. Not only was Danny was not about to let her out of any tutoring, Anna wasn't about to go quitting either.

She knew Steve always let her into his house when she turned back up after an argument because he was too stubborn to tell her to get lost and be the one who quit. She wondered though if Steve realised the reason she kept coming back was because she was just as stubborn.

"Right; well, don't you go causin' him too much trouble 'kay?" Danny said as he lit up a smoke.

Anna looked indignantly at her brother. "_Me_ causing _him _trouble? Were you not listening to a word I said last night? _He_ is causing _me_ trouble."

Danny smirked at her. "I've seen the way you egg him on. You ain't exactly all innocent in this."

Anna sighed and grinned a little. "Maybe."

"C'mon, Miss B, the last thing you need is to fail and have to be a junior again. Randle is helping ya out big time with this."

Anna stayed silent, not wanting to admit her brother was right.

"Just try an' be nice,' he said.

"Whaddya think these are for?" she asked waving the container that held freshly baked chocolate muffins. She'd been willing to bribe Steve in the past and she wasn't against doing it again.

"I'll see ya later," Danny said, chucking the car back into first.

Anna sighed and climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind her just in time for Danny to pull the car away from the sidewalk and speed off down the street. Looking back at Steve's place, Anna let out another sigh and began to slowly make her way up the walkway.

So far they'd had three tutoring sessions and each one had been as bad as the last. Last night's session had probably been the worst though, with Anna telling Steve some lie about Evie saying he was bad in bed after Steve had said something horrible about Ricky and the rumours he'd spread that she didn't particularly want to think about right then.

Once again the night had ended with her storming out of Steve's house and Steve probably doing his best to remember that she was a girl and that it wouldn't go down too well if he were to hit her.

Anna drummed her fingers on the bottom of the container as she made her way up the porch stairs and stopped in front of the door. She had to knock, there was no getting around that, but the longer she could put it off the better.

She thought maybe she could just hang around outside for a bit, that way by the time she went in, part of the session would be over and she wouldn't have to be there as long. It sounded like a great idea until she imagined Steve's reaction when she finally went in and how pissed off he'd be at her being so late.

Raising her hand to knock, she was surprised when the door opened right in front of her. She tensed up for a moment before grinning and hiding the container of muffins behind her back when she saw Two-Bit.

"Anna!" he called merrily. "Me and Steve were just coming out to see if you were here yet."

"Really?"

"No, not really," Steve said from behind Two-Bit who ignored him.

"Yup," Two-Bit continued as both boys walked through the doorway and onto the porch. "In fact we've both been counting down the minutes till you were s'posed to arrive."

Anna grinned. "Aw, Two-Bit, if I'd know you were here I woulda come earlier."

"Now, now, Anna,' Two-Bit said, still sounding unbelievably cheerful. "You wouldn't wanna go and make Steve here jealous would ya? I mean, I know you're not flirting, and you know you're not flirting. But Steve here may not realise it."

"Knock it off, Two-Bit,' Steve said.

Anna laughed, remembering when Two-Bit had once jokingly accused her of flirting with him in science. She laughed at him and told him he was just like a naughty dog who was always getting into trouble and was fun to joke with.

He had of course replied in similar style that Anna was just like a kitten that he could get into trouble with him and tease mercilessly. He had proceeded to prove that by setting fire to her science notebook, earning them both detentions.

"See what I mean," Two-Bit whispered. "Jealous."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Steve asked, shoving Two-Bit's shoulder.

"That I do."

"You're leavin'?" Anna asked.

"That's right. I have myself a very lovely lady in need of some of my lovin'."

Anna grinned, remembering how excited Kathy had been about their date tonight. "That's right," she said. "Kathy mentioned you had something nice planned."

Two-Bit just winked and, giving Steve a manly slap on the back, barrelled down the porch steps and headed for his house.

The silence left behind was awkward to say the least. Last night's fight had become possibly a little too personal for her bribe to work, but she wasn't going to give up hope.

"Here," she said shoving the container towards him.

"What is it?"

"Muffins," she said. "Triple chocolate."

Steve sneered at her. "Whaddya want this time?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Then why are you giving them to me?"

Anna was impressed that he at least didn't think she was trying to poison him this time … that had to be some kind of improvement.

"All I want is to pass math," she said, "and that ain't gonna happen with us constantly at each other's throats."

Steve stared at her for a moment, seemingly thinking over what she was saying. "That's true," he said grudgingly, obviously hating to agree with her. " But it still don't explain the muffins."

Anna shrugged and grinned at him. "A peace offering?"

XXXXX

Steve frowned at the container. A peace offering? Was she serious? He glanced back up at her and realised immediately that yes, she was dead serious.

Looking back at the container filled with muffins, Steve considered things. A truce wouldn't be too bad an idea. After the argument they'd had the night before he was a little tired of fighting with Anna. She always gave as good as she got and Steve found himself letting out more emotion around her than he would with most people. 'Course all that emotion was anger but it was still more than he wanted Anna to see.

A truce wouldn't be too bad. It meant he'd have to be kind of nice to her but he figured it meant she'd have to be kind of nice right back. Seeing Anna force niceness towards him the other week had been, although pesky because he'd known she had wanted something from him, a little amusing.

Plus if they stopped arguing they might just get somewhere with the math then she'd be out of his hair forever.

He looked back at her again and as much as he wanted to kill the slightly hopeful look in her eyes, nodded.

"Fine," he said and walked past her into the house.

"Really?" she asked, walking in behind him.

"Uh-huh."

"Why?"

Steve frowned. "Whaddya mean why?"

"Why are you agreeing to this?"

"'Cause as much as I hate to admit it, you had a point. You ain't ever gonna get better at math if we don't stop fighting and the sooner you get better at math, the sooner I get Evie back and get rid of you."

"Wow," she said as they walked into the kitchen. "Ya know I never thought I'd see the day where you'd actually agree with me over something."

"Neither did I," Steve admitted.

"Especially when it was something that would result in you having to be somewhat nice to me," she continued.

"Are you wanting me to tell both you and your peace offering to piss off?" he asked glaring at her. "Cuz you're the one that did the offering which means you gotta be nice to me too and I only just agreed to the damn thing and you're already beginning to annoy me."

Steve was sure Anna was about to say something else that would get to him but she quickly bit her lip, grinned at him and quietly opened her notebook.

"So," she said in what he figured was supposed to be a friendly tone, "where were we up to?"

XXXXX

Anna made her way up her porch steps, still slightly in awe of how her night had gone.

For starters, Steve had agreed to her truce much quicker and easier than she'd dared to hope. She'd expected him to fight her tooth and nail, saying what a terrible idea it was and that he'd much rather continue to argue with her over every little thing than force himself to be nice to her, even if it wasn't true.

On top of that, their night had gone reasonably well. She still didn't understand a single thing he said about math, but he was keeping his frustration at her to himself and she was trying that little bit harder to deal with not getting it.

All in all it hadn't been a terrible night. Still not great, but Anna didn't think she could really complain considering last night's events.

Seeing her dad's car gone when she got home was just an added bonus, one she could only count on three or four nights a week when he was on the graveyard shift. Hearing Tim Shepard's rumbling voice as she opened the front door was just peachy.

Grinning she dropped her school books on the floor, ran her fingers through her hair and wandered into the kitchen. She wasn't stupid enough to think Tim would take any notice of her whether she made any kind of effort or not, in fact he'd been buddies with her brother so long that he'd seen her at her worst, but she still wasn't about to let him see her look a mess from the wind outside.

"Hey." She made her voice bright and cheery as she spotted her brother and the gang leader sitting at the kitchen table drinking beer.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Danny asked and Tim just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Surprisingly well," she said, grabbing a coke from the icebox. "Now is this 'gang business' or can anyone join in?" she directed her question at Tim.

"Take a seat," he offered, kicking out a chair.

"Surprisingly well? Does that mean you learned somethin' this time?" Danny asked.

Anna frowned as she sat at the table. "Not exactly."

"Meanin' what?"

"Meanin' no," she admitted.

Danny nodded thoughtfully. "You seem to be in a better mood tonight than last night though; I take it the muffins went down well?"

"Yeah," Anna grinned. "The muffins were good and the peace offering was taken. Rather quickly might I add."

"A peace offering? As in a truce?" Tim asked.

"Uh-huh."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Between you and Randle?"

"Yes, between me and Steve."

Tim smirked at her. "I don't believe it."

Anna furrowed her brow at him. She'd had a crush on him since she was fourteen, which she was pretty sure he knew about, and she thought he was awfully good looking but she hated the way he teased her like her own brother did. It made it even more obvious that he only thought of her as Danny's little sister.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I've seen the two of you argue."

"That don't mean nothin'," she said pursing her lips. _Jeez,_ she thought to herself, _is there anyone who hasn't seen us argue?_

"It means ya can't stand each other and any truce you think you got goin' on ain't gonna last."

"Says you," she said rudely. She wasn't afraid of Tim Shepard. Admittedly, if she were to piss him off the only thing stopping him from giving her a whack on the head like he would his own sister was Danny, but that was good enough for her.

"You really think it'll work?"

_No, I don't._ "Yes, I do."

"Good luck to ya then," he said, taking another mouthful of beer.

"I don't need luck," she said. "Just patience and determination."

Tim raised an eyebrow at her and Danny snorted.

"O.k. and maybe some more chocolate muffins," she conceded.

Danny shrugged and glanced at Tim. "Two outta three ain't too bad."

Anna rolled her eyes and stood up. "You two need to have a little more faith in me," she said. "I have plenty of determination."

"What about the patience?" Danny said.

Anna took a breath. "Well, I s'pose I'll just have to work on that won't I?"

Danny chuckled and even Tim looked amused. "Good luck with that, Miss B," her brother said, "you'll need it."

Anna glared at the two of them before turning and storming to her bedroom.

"Stupid boys," she muttered to herself.

XXXXX

Steve was sitting at the kitchen table, picking at some left over chicken and thinking about the guys in the Mustang that had followed him, when his dad got home from his night job. He hadn't had any more trouble from the Mustang owner but was definitely expecting some. Staying silent for a moment, he wondered what his chances were of getting from the kitchen to his bedroom without any trouble from his dad.

It'd been over a week since their last fight and Steve was just waiting for the next. He sat listening to his dad take off his jacket and kick off his shoes, cursing the whole time and knew he'd be spending the night at Soda's.

Sighing he stood and went to place the rest of the chicken back in the fridge when his dad came into the kitchen. Steve turned cautiously, watching his dad stop in front of the table and stare at him.

"Why aren't you at work?" John asked.

"It's my night off."

"So you think you can just sit around the house and eat food I paid for, do ya?"

"I ain't about to go hungry," Steve was unable to stop himself from replying.

"Ya ain't about to go hungry," John repeated. "Well maybe if you put that pay check of yours to good use ya wouldn't have that problem."

Steve didn't say anything. He'd offered money to his dad to help around the house on more than one occasion and his dad always told him to keep his money, that he was capable of taking care of his own son.

"Don't ya know it's rude to ignore someone when they're talkin' to ya?" his dad asked. "I thought your mother taught ya better than that."

Steve bristled. He could take his dad yelling at him and kicking him out but he hated it when he brought his mom into it. As far as Steve was concerned, she was gone and didn't deserve to be talked about this way.

"Leave her outta this," he snapped, his hands tightening on the plate of chicken he still held.

"Or what? Huh?"

Steve said nothing.

"You'll hit me?" John asked. "You'll start a fight with me like you and your stupid buddies do all the time?"

Steve was so tempted and his knuckles were itching to be used. He was one hell of a fighter and had a wicked temper to go with it but his dad was a big guy. He wasn't stupid enough to try and hit him, no matter how angry he got.

"Get the hell outta here," his dad finally said. "Ya useless piece of shit."

Steve placed the plate of chicken on the counter next to him and stormed out the back door, hearing his dad cursing at him on his way out. Shoving his clenched fists into his pockets, he walked around the side of the house and started down the street.

His dad was a bastard, and sometimes Steve really hated him, but he was still his dad. It bothered him that his dad treated him so badly, but it bothered him even more that it bothered him at all.

Steve lit up a smoke and scowled. His dad was a useless father who thought five bucks made up for being kicked out. The money was his dad's way of apologising, he knew that, and he always took the offered money as a way of acknowledging the apology and agreeing to come home. That didn't mean he accepted the apology.

He sometimes wished he could stay away. Move out of home or something. But most of the time he just wanted his dad to stop treating him so bad. As much as Steve hated him, he was all the family he had left, not counting his cousin and Aunt in Kansas. Ever since his mom had died it'd just been him and his dad and that still meant something to Steve.

Glad to reach the Curtis' place, Steve flicked away his cigarette butt and pushed the gate open, spying Ponyboy sitting on the couch by the window reading by the light of the living room lamp.

"Hey," Steve said as he walked up the porch steps.

Pony looked up. "Hey, there's left over meatloaf if ya want some."

Steve nodded his thanks and made his way inside. At least he and Pony managed to get along sometimes. He still thought the kid was a damn tag along, but he supposed he was all right sometimes.

Opening the screen door Steve found Soda sprawled on the couch, wearing nothing but jeans as he looked through a car magazine.

"Hey, buddy," he said, looking up from the magazine.

Steve nodded and sat next to him, still scowling.

"Want some meatloaf?" Soda asked, getting up. "Darry had a feeling we'd be seein' you or Johnny tonight and made plenty."

"Yeah, thanks," Steve said and picked up Soda's discarded magazine.

"Anytime, buddy," Soda said. "Anytime."

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**A/N:** Thanks again to RileysMomma for beta-reading this for me and thanks to those who have left comments, they are very much appreciated :)


	7. Bad Moon Rising

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Bad Moon Rising' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

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**Thursday, March 3rd, 1966**

Steve took a long swig of Coke and glanced at the clock on the wall. 7:29pm. He wasn't due to close up for another half hour but he was finished working on the car that had been left for him and was now just sitting in the front part of the store, waiting for eight o'clock to come so he could go home.

He'd headed home after school that day and received six bucks from his dad, who had then mumbled something about working late and that he'd see him tomorrow. Steve had watched his dad leave the house, not bothering to hide the disgust on his face. The money always came in handy and an actual apology would just be awkward, but Steve knew he would be a lot happier if he didn't get kicked out every other week.

Swirling the bottle on the counter he was leaning on, Steve thought about Anna. So far their "truce" was going o.k. Not great, things with Anna never went great, but o.k. Their tutoring last night had gone off without a hitch once he'd accepted the peace offering and today in math hadn't been too bad either.

Mr. Chase had handed out more worksheets, and given Steve a subtle hint that perhaps he could help Anna out should she need it. Steve remembered Anna saying that's why her tutor had to be someone from their class, so she could get help in class as well as out of it.

So after watching her frown at the worksheet and glance at him out of the corner of her eye for a good fifteen minutes, Steve had reluctantly tried to explain how to go about doing the equations.

None of what he said seemed to sink in, but they hadn't argued about it. It seemed that as nice as he was trying to be, she was trying to be just as helpful … for once. She'd even told him about the almost nice things she'd said to Evie about him. 'Course she'd told Evie those things on Monday but Steve figured finding out now was better than never.

Steve supposed it was good that they were being civil to each other, but he still hated having to be around her so much. She still annoyed him something terrible, but as long as she wasn't actually trying to annoy him, he figured he could put up with her.

Finishing off the last of his Coke, Steve chucked the bottle into the trash and stretched, wishing the last twenty-two minutes of his shift would hurry up. He'd walked to work again that night and the sky had begun clouding over before it'd gotten dark and walking home in the rain wasn't something he was looking forward to.

He was just about to go grab another Coke when he heard a car pull up outside. His shoulders tensed beneath his work shirt as he took in the green Mustang and watched four guys climb out. Eyes narrowed, he considered going and grabbing another Coke anyway, thinking the bottle might come in handy, but he decided against that idea when he realised that meant leaving the safety he had behind the counter.

Instead, he forced his shoulders to relax, flipped up the collar of his work shirt and leaned his elbows against the counter. A bored expression on his face, he looked up as the bell above the door rang and the guys entered the store, sauntering up to him.

Standing up to his full height, he was pleased to see he was at least an inch taller than each of them. Of course that probably wouldn't matter too much if it came down to it but Steve figured he could use his height to his advantage before anything broke out.

"What can I get ya?" he drawled, wishing smoking around a gas station wasn't such a bad thing.

"My hubs would be good start," the guy in the front with bushy eyebrows said. Steve looked them all over and, not recognising any of them, figured they went to one of the surrounding high schools.

"What was the name?" he asked casually. "I'll see if they've come in yet."

The guy's face contorted as though he didn't particularly like Steve's laid-back attitude and Steve fought off a smirk.

"I didn't order any," he sneered. "I'm talking about the ones you took off of my car."

Steve glanced at the car. "I think you got the wrong guy," he said.

"Bull," Bushy Eyebrows said. "I know you took them."

"You don't know shit," Steve said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice.

Bushy Eyebrows smirked at him. "I asked around," he said. "Not only did a buddy of mine see you take them, you're well known for your talent in taking other people's hubs."

Steve raised an eyebrow. Bushy Eyebrows obviously didn't realise what a compliment that was but Steve kept his trap shut. He wasn't about to back down from these guys but he needed to get them outta there quick. The last thing he needed was for a fight to break out while he was at work. He'd be fired for sure.

"Maybe your buddy's wrong," he said, glancing at the three other guys there.

"My buddy ain't wrong, greaser."

"I think he might be," Steve said and, unable to stop himself, continued. "But when you figure out who it was, let me know. I've seen your car around and I want to congratulate whoever it was for getting rid of those fuck ugly things."

Bushy Eyebrows growled and one his buddies started towards the side of the counter. Steve clenched his fists, wishing he had anything he could use as a weapon but knowing all he had were his fists.

_I'm so gonna get fired,_ he thought to himself but the guy heading his way stopped in his tracks when the bell above the door jingled. Steve glanced at the door, smirking when Dallas came strutting in, tossing his open switch blade up and down in the air, catching it with ease.

"Hey," he said in a low voice. "You need a ride home?"

Steve nodded and glanced at the clock. 7:58pm.

"Yeah," he said switching off the pumps and turning to look at Bushy Eyebrows. "You and your buddies plannin' on buyin' anything?"

Bushy Eyebrows and his friends had gone a little pale at the site of Dally's knife and had all taken a step back.

"You won't be so lucky next time," he said glaring at Steve.

The four guys walked out of the DX, doing their best to keep away from Dally who was now holding his knife loosely in his hand, ready to be used if needed. Steve kept his eyes on the guys, waiting for them to get in the car and the hell outta there before turning to Dally.

"Hey," he said.

"What the fuck was that about?"

Steve headed out from behind the counter and began locking up. "Hubcaps," he said with a shrug.

"You took a Socs' hubs? Pretty fuckin' stupid move don't ya think?"

Steve smirked. "If you'd seen them, you woulda done the same thing."

"That good huh?"

"No, that bad," Steve snorted and grabbed his jacket, leading Dally outside, just as a light rain began falling. "That's one tuff Mustang and the hubs were fuck ugly."

Dally smirked. "You're lucky I came along when I did, ya know?"

"I coulda taken them."

"By yourself and without a weapon? Na, you're a good fighter and all but they woulda kicked your ass, buddy," Dally said as they headed towards Buck's car.

Steve gave Dally's shoulder a shove. "Oh yeah, you're a big hero now," he said.

Dally snorted and they climbed into the car. "You back with Evie yet?" he asked.

Steve narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Ya doin' anything about it?" Dally continued, starting the engine and heading in the direction of the Curtis'.

Steve didn't want to admit to Dally that he was accepting a broad's help in getting his girl back and kept his mouth shut. Dally wasn't exactly the kinda guy who would let him forget that kind of thing.

"Stupid bitch, you're better off without her anyway," he said. "I hear you been helpin' out Anna Harris though."

Steve looked at Dally, surprised. "How'd ya find that out?"

Dally shrugged. "Sylvia."

That made sense. "Yeah, she needed help with math."

Dally let out a loud laugh. "Can't see it," he admitted. "Anna ain't bad on the eyes and all but I don't get why you'd help her out. You hate the bitch."

Not bad on the eyes? Personally Steve had never seen it but then, Dally liked anything with tits.

XXXXX

"And how's that little friend of yours doin'?" Grandpa Joe asked over the sound of the rain as he and Anna sat at his kitchen table eating the cookies she had baked that morning.

"Kathy?" Anna grinned. Grandpa Joe had taken a liking to Kathy the few times he'd met her. 'You've got yourself a good friend there Anna,' he'd said. "She's doin' good. She got back together with her boyfriend the other day."

"An' he's treatin' her good?"

"Yeah, he treats her pretty good," Anna said taking a sip of her Coke. Grandpa Joe liked to know everything he could about her life. He wasn't nosy, just interested and though Anna wasn't usually keen on telling most parental figures about anything she did, she enjoyed telling Grandpa Joe stuff. Or at least the stuff he wouldn't outright disapprove of.

In fact, she liked having someone she could tell most things to, someone who was interested. Her mum wasn't around, her dad didn't give a shit and Danny was a great older brother, the best even, but he wasn't interested in her dramatic teenage girl problems. Grandpa Joe on the other hand was always willing to lend a sympathetic ear and give out advice.

"Good, good," Grandpa Joe said. "And what about that tutoring of yours? How's that goin'?"

"It's not too bad, I guess," she said, silently cursing the way she couldn't hide her emotions from Grandpa Joe as her dislike of the situation was obvious.

"Ya guess? What's so wrong with it that it ain't goin' good?"

Anna shrugged and drummed her fingers on her Coke bottle. "It's just the guy who's tryin' to help me ain't really someone I get along with."

"That so?"

"Yeah," she paused, "it's Steve Randle."

"Yer cousin's boyfriend that ya don't like?" Grandpa Joe was Anna's family through her mom whereas Evie and her family were related to Anna's dad. Grandpa Joe had only met Evie a handful of times and mostly when they were young kids.

"Uh-huh, only he's her ex-boyfriend now."

"For someone who don't like you just as much as you don't like him it's awfully good of him to be helpin' ya out like this, Anna," Grandpa Joe said.

"I guess, though he only agreed because I said I'd help him get Evie back," she said.

"Hmm, he's not causin' ya too much trouble is he?"

"No, we actually decided to have a bit of a truce, considering the amount of time we're havin' to spend together," Anna said.

"A truce huh? That's a pretty good idea."

Anna shrugged again. "It's still a pain having to spend that much time with him."

"Maybe," he said. "But passin' yer junior year is more important ain't it?"

Anna nodded.

"And if it gets that bad," he continued, "just remember that he's hatin' it all just as much as you are."

Anna laughed and a horn honked outside. "That'll be Kathy," she said, standing from the table.

Grandpa Joe stood too, the light from the kitchen ceiling catching on the silver crucifix he always wore. "Make sure it ain't rainin' next time she comes to pick ya up so she can come in," he said. "And get yer brother to either come with ya or drop ya off next time. I don't want ya ridin' that bus too often."

Anna nodded and grabbed her books off the floor, not bothering to tell her grandpa that the buses weren't really too bad. He'd never believe her anyway.

"I will, Grandpa." The two of them made their way to the front door and he pulled it open.

"Right, well, see ya next time then," he said awkwardly.

Anna grinned again and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Love you, Grandpa," she said.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, patting her back. "You too kid."

Anna let go of Grandpa Joe and, with a reluctant grin, ran out the door towards Kathy who was waving at Grandpa Joe like a maniac from the front seat. Shielding herself from the heavy rain with her books and doing her darndest to avoid the puddles sloshing at her feet, she opened the door and climbed in beside Kathy.

XXXXX

Anna climbed out of Kathy's car with a grimace as she spotted her dad's car in the driveway and Danny's car no where to be found. Of course that didn't automatically mean that her dad was in there waiting to have a go at her, but it was definitely possible.

"See ya tomorrow," she called to Kathy and slammed the car door shut. Using her books as cover again she ran to the front porch and up the stairs, pausing at the front door. She was tempted to simply head off to the park down the road, but it was cold out and the rain wasn't helping that. Placing her hand on the handle she turned the knob as quietly as she could and opened the door.

Walking into her house, she could hear the TV blaring and smell the vegetable soup Danny had cooked up the night before. As silently as possible, Anna turned and closed the door behind her and paused again. She resisted the urge to turn and run when she heard her dads' foot steps behind her.

Taking a breath she turned to find him in the hall behind her. "Hi, Dad," she said, unable to tell if he was pissed off.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked, glaring at her.

Anna kept her face neutral. "Out with Kathy," she lied.

"Out with Kathy?"

"Yeah, we went to her house after school to work on our Home Ec assignment," Anna said.

He looked at his watch then back at Anna. "For five hours?"

Anna shrugged. "We went to the Dingo for some dinner and got caught up talkin' to people."

Her dad studied her for a moment. "You're lyin'."

"I'm not lying," she said.

"Yeah ya are," he said, "I can see it in yer eyes."

Anna had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Her dad almost always thought she was lying, even when she was being completely honest. As much as he tried, he never really knew if she was lying or not, he just liked to assume she was.

"I was out with Kathy," she said again. "She just dropped me off."

Her dad was quiet and Anna kept her face as expressionless as she could.

"You were out with some boy weren't ya?" he finally asked. He also had a habit of being wrong about where she had been even when she was lying.

"No."

"You lying little bitch!" her dad yelled and Anna couldn't help but flinch at his raised voice.

"I ain't lying. Go ask the neighbours or somethin', they'll tell ya that she just dropped me off."

"God damn it, Anna," he yelled. "Don't you fucking lie to me."

Anna said nothing. Sometimes that was best.

"Don't you lie to me!" her dad was yelling again. "Ya hear me girl? Don't you lie to me!"

Anna nodded, heart thudding. This was just like every other time her dad shouted at her and Anna _knew_ he would never lay a finger on her, but the way her dad yelled scared her more than she'd like to admit. She'd seen plenty of angry guys in her life, most of them being her brothers' friends or the guys she went to school with, but none of them scared her like her dad did.

Her dad was big, a lot bigger than the boys at school. But it wasn't just his size that worried Anna. It was that he was her dad. She knew why he did this, she almost kind of understood, but it scared the crap out of her that her dad could yell at his own daughter without so much as a second thought.

"Get the hell outta my sight," he said, pointing towards her bedroom.

Anna ducked under his arm and quickly made her way to her bedroom, enough pride intact to refuse to run. Closing the door behind her, she dropped her books and quickly grabbed the chair on front of her bureau and shoved it against her door, the back of the seat sitting firmly under the door knob.

She backed up and sat on the edge of her bed and listened as her dad grumbled for a bit before stomping back into the living room. Flopping her body backwards onto her bed with her heart still racing she let out a long sigh, again considering heading down to the park.

It was still raining fairly heavily but she could put on her coat and be relatively warm. Sitting up she turned to face her open window and thought it through.

There were a few trees there, one in particular that would give her reasonable shelter from the rain. And the fresh air and cold rain would definitely calm down her racing heart.

Anna glanced at the clock next her bed. 8:47pm. Heading to the park was definitely appealing but then so was passing her junior year, and she had agreed to make more of an effort.

Keeping as quiet as she could she grabbed her school books and picked out her English and math notebooks. Opening her math one first she went ahead and pulled out her worksheet. Pursing her lips at it for a few minutes she sighed, grabbed her pen and tried her best to actually understand what Steve had been trying to tell her.

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**A/N:** As usual, thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. For those who are reading, I would really love feedback on how you think the story is going :)


	8. Weapons In The Form Of Words

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or the lyrics to the Fall Out Boy song I have used in the title of this chapter.

_"This fic/chapter is being post as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sue's. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honour."_

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**Tuesday, March 8th, 1966**

Steve was just about ready to give up for the night for the night when Anna finally said something that sounded right. They'd been going around in circles for too long now and he was getting annoyed.

"Hang on," he said and Anna rolled her eyes. "So what you're telling me is that you actually understand what I'm saying?"

"I _kind of _understand," she corrected.

"Well." Steve leant back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. "That's about the most progress we've had in the whole two weeks."

He also wanted to mention that they also hadn't had a fight in a whole week, their previous record being all of two days. Sure, they'd argued just as much as before their truce, but no major fights. In the end he decided against saying anything. He didn't want to jinx things after all and he didn't feel like dealing with Anna's gloating.

"With how well we're doing I'll definitely pass my junior year next year," Anna said, sounding as though she were only half joking.

Steve frowned. "We're not doing too bad," he said reluctantly. He hated having to tell her she was doing okay. "But it'd be even better if you tried a bit harder."

"I am trying!" Anna said and Steve raised and eyebrow.

"I ain't trying to rile you up. I'm serious, try harder and things will be fine."

Anna nodded. "Right, I mean, I _am_ trying, but I will keep trying harder. I do want to pass after all."

"Yeah well," he said, grabbing at another piece of banana cake, "just keep bringing me baked goods and I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

Anna smirked. "Told you my baking was good."

Steve ignored her and, still eating his cake, picked up his pencil and went about doing a couple of his own math equations. Anna was watching him and he knew she was a bit jealous of how quickly he got through his equations. He looked up at her in time to see her grab a piece of cake.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as she bit into the cake.

She swallowed before answering. "Eating?"

"Na," he said taking the cake out of her hand. "You don't get any of this until you finish that worksheet."

"But - but I made it," she cried indignantly.

"I don't care who made it, you ain't getting any."

"Steve," she moaned.

"Glory, Anna. Don't whine."

"But - "

"But nothin'. Finish your worksheet."

She frowned. "On my own?"

"Yes. I helped you with most of them already. You've only got three left."

Anna scowled, picked up her pencil and stared at the worksheet. Steve rolled his eyes and went back to his own. Finishing off the last equation he closed his math book and grabbed out his English notebook, ready to start on that homework.

He glanced at Anna and was surprised to see an intense look of concentration on her face as she furiously scribbled numbers on the worksheet. He frowned slightly and turned back to his notebook.

"Is this right?" Anna asked a few minutes later.

Steve glanced at what she had done and was surprised to see that it was right. She had worked it out perfectly and gotten the right answer. Nodding, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Did you copy mine?"

"No I didn't copy." She frowned at him.

"Then congratulations; you finally got something right," he said with a smirk.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.

Steve went back to his English essay and did his best to ignore Anna who was tapping her pencil against her chin as she looked at the last two equations she had. It didn't make a whole lot of noise of course, but the movement in the corner of his eye was distracting as hell. Thankfully she began writing on her worksheet before it became too annoying.

"What about these?" Anna asked a quarter of an hour later.

Steve sighed and pulled himself away from his essay which was going well and looked over Anna's work.

"They're right too," he said, nodding, pleased that she was finally getting something and unhappy that he had to give her any kind of praise. They hadn't fought, but they sure as hell weren't friends who told each other how well they were doing. "Took ya long enough, though."

Anna smirked. "Adding an insult into the mix doesn't change that I got it right and you praised me for it."

"I didn't praise you for it; I just said that it was right. Now stop grinning like an idiot," he said.

Anna sighed. "You hate to see me happy don't you?"

Steve shrugged and the phone in the living room began to ring. Climbing to his feet, he wandered into the living room to answer the phone, knowing it was probably Soda.

XXXXX

After a few minutes of waiting for Steve, Anna decided she might as well pack up her stuff and head home. Their two hours was almost up and she had finished the rest of her worksheet by herself.

She still couldn't believe how well she had done. 'Course in reality it wasn't that well at all, but it was good enough for Anna to feel good about. In fact, though she had never really cared for math before and still didn't, she was kinda proud of herself for finally understanding.

_Finally!_

She hated to even think it, but Steve was right; if she kept trying hard and bringing him baked goods to keep him in a reasonable mood, she may just pass her junior year.

Making her way out of the kitchen with her books and pencil in hand, Anna contemplated what she was going to do once she got home. Her dad was working tonight so she didn't have to worry about that, and other than the math she had just done, she didn't have any other homework that _had_ to be done that night. She grinned a little; maybe Danny would be home and Tim would be there too.

Walking down the hall, she stopped as a photo hanging on the wall caught her eye. Leaning forward to take a closer look, Anna was surprised to see it was of Steve and his mom.

The two of them were in front of the house with Mrs. Randle kneeling down to be the same height as Steve, the both of them smiling at the camera. The resemblance between them was obvious; the curly black hair, the soft smiles and, Anna couldn't be completely sure given that the photo was black and white, their dark blue eyes.

She shouldn't have been surprised of course. A picture of a boy with his mom was hardly uncommon. Anna figured her surprise was due to the fact that Steve's mom had died when she and Steve were ten. Since then, not being friends with Steve, she hadn't thought about his mom at all. Seeing a picture of her, even in Steve's house, had been unexpected.

From looking at Steve in the photo, Anna would say he must have been about eight at the time. A vague memory came back to Anna as she looked at Steve's mom and the front of their house. Falling off of her bike, trying not to cry, lemonade; the memory was becoming more vivid very quickly and as Steve made his way out of the living room and into the hall Anna had remembered most if it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just looking at this picture," she said, telling him about her memory before even thinking it through. "I remember this one time, one summer, I was riding down your street, trying to catch up to Danny and Tim because they'd gone off without me. I guess having your little sister hanging around was just as annoying then as it is now."

Steve didn't say anything and Anna continued, still looking at the picture with the memory completely back.

"Anyway, I don't know how it happened but I fell off my bike and scraped my knee. It wasn't that big a deal but being, I dunno, I must have been about seven, that small bit of blood sure seemed like a lot.

"And then your mom comes running outside with a band-aid, a wash cloth and a glass of lemonade. I was already fighting tears and then the minute I saw her and realised I'd fallen outside your house I decided crying wasn't an option no matter what. Not with you possibly being right inside and already having the fact that I'd fallen to use against me. But then she sat down with me, cleaned the scrape and kissed it better.

"Of course her niceness had me crying right away and as she put the band-aid on she told me how it was all going to be all right and gave me the lemonade. I told her that I really didn't want you to see me cry because you'd tease me about it forever."

Anna paused for a moment, silently remember that she had been right; Steve did have his mother's eyes, before continuing. "I remember thinking that she'd tell me off for saying that you would tease me but she just laughed and promised me that you were at the Curtis' for the afternoon and that she wouldn't tell you about it. I guess her and my mom knew how much we got on each others nerves.

"For ages I remembered what had happened and the way she had kissed my knee better. She sure was a nice lady."

Silence followed and Anna dragged her eyes away from the photo to look at Steve. He was staring at the photo, hands shoved in his pockets with a strange, intense look on his face. She had found that Steve was a lot like Tim and Danny and liked to keep his face as blank as possible when he was feeling any kind of emotion. She could remember seeing many flashes of anger and frustration show on his face, but they had always come and gone so quickly she had almost missed them. Now for the first time that Anna could remember she was seeing something _other_ than anger or frustration.

She immediately felt bad, whether it was for bringing up his mother or for Steve himself she didn't know, but she suddenly found herself giving him her sympathy. _What's a bit of empathy when I've already gone all soft and spilled that memory?_ she thought to herself.

"I'm really sorry by the way," she said and he turned to look at her, his eyes blank again. "For what happened to your mom," she continued. "We never got along so I never bothered to say anything, but I'm really sorry."

Steve stared at her, a look of hardness and something close to hatred entering his eyes, then shrugged. "Better her dying than leaving 'cause she didn't give a shit," he said in a cold voice.

Anna's body tensed. She didn't have to be good at math to figure out he was talking about her mother. Greasers were a bunch of gossips and everyone knew everything about everyone else's home life unless you did a real good job of hiding it. Anna did her best to keep her dad's moods to herself but there was no one who didn't know about her mom taking off on them.

No one had ever said anything to her about it though, not even Steve in all their years of arguing. In fact, this was the down right nastiest thing he'd ever said to her. The only actual _hurtful _thing he'd ever said to her. She swallowed the hurt as quick as it came and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Bastard," she hissed and walked past him out the door.

XXXXX

_Stupid bitch,_ Steve thought to himself as he sat on the couch outside, stubbing out his second cigarette and lighting up a third. He inhaled deeply, still not feeling at all calm.

Bringing up his mother like that, who the hell did she think she was? He didn't talk to anyone about his mother, not even Soda. Did she really think he'd open up and discuss his feelings with _her_?

Steve's scowl deepened and he rubbed his knuckles. Even Evie had never been stupid enough to try and talk about his mom. Sure she'd mentioned once how much it sucked that she wasn't around anymore, but they'd been together for a while by that stage and she had left it at that. She hadn't tried to give him pity.

"Pity." Steve spat the word out in disgust and took a drag on his smoke. He didn't want to be pitied. Not about his mom being dead, not about his dad kicking him out all the time, not about anything.

He especially didn't want to be pitied by a little bitch like Anna Harris. Not when she still had both her parents alive and well and an older brother to keep her company. All he had was a dead mom and a loser for a dad.

Of course he'd basically said he'd rather have his mom dead than having just taken off, but that wasn't true. He'd give almost anything to have his mom alive, even if she was absent like Anna's mom. At least she would be alive.

Steve cursed Anna out loud and took another puff of his smoke as thoughts and memories of his mom came to mind. He didn't want to think about her, not now when he was already so pissed off.

He stood up and grabbed out his comb as he began pacing along the porch. He ran it through his hair a couple of times and thought about what to do. The plan had been for him to go to Soda's for a poker game once Anna left but he wasn't in the mood for that, not now.

Now, thanks to Anna, he had his own memories of his mom running through his head. And because of how angry Anna had made him, they weren't the good memories like hers had been. They weren't memories of the amazing dinners she used to cook, or the way she had looked after him when he'd been hurt or the way she had kissed him good night every night.

They were of the blood, the smashed glass and the blank look in her eyes that seemed as though they had been staring at him when they had been not looking at anything. They were of the stupid suit he'd had to wear and the way his dad had cried and the looks of pity he'd received then too.

Flopping back down on the couch he stubbed out the end of his smoke and lit up his fourth, inhaling deeply and wishing smoking had the same calming effect on him that it had on Soda.

Steve decided then against going to Soda's. All he really wanted to do was sit and think about what a bitch Anna was.

XXXXX

Anna stormed down the street, glaring furiously at the ground and doing her best to ignore the hurt she was feeling. She couldn't believe what he had said, that he had stooped that low just to get at her.

She hadn't done anything but try to give him a bit of kindness, a bit of compassion. Anna scowled; that was definitely the first and last time she would be any kind of nice to Steve Randle. The guy was the biggest jerk out there.

Right at the moment he was worse than Ricky Bolton, worse than her dad, worse than everyone else she could think of.

She supposed she understood where his anger at her had come from. They were anything but friends and she had just up and blurted out stuff about his dead mom without even thinking it through. He couldn't have liked that. Not just that she was talking about his mom but that it forced him to do the same.

She figured it was more than likely that he had taken her empathy as pity too. In fact, she probably would have done the same. Guys like Steve, Danny and Tim, and most other greasers she knew, generally saw kindness about personal situations as pity. She probably should've thought about that before saying anything.

But his having reason to be angry and her having not thought things through didn't make what he had said okay. Nothing would make that okay. Insinuating that her mom didn't give a shit about her? That was just cruel, even for Steve. It was cruel and mean and … and true.

Anna stopped and sat herself down on the edge of the sidewalk, pulling her knees up to her chest. He was right. As horrible as it had been to hear and as horrible as it was for him to have said it, he was right.

Her mom had left four years ago and Anna heard from her every so often. Birthday cards and the odd postcard had been the extent of her getting in touch with her children. Anna had read and kept all the cards where Danny had just glanced at them before chucking them in the trash. As far as he was concerned, their mother might as well be as dead as Steve's.

Anna thought about that. She cared enough to send a postcard every now and then, to send birthday cards weeks, almost months late, but not enough to call or write or come home? Not enough to have bothered to say goodbye when she had left. Not enough to have stuck around in the first place.

Not enough that it could be called giving a shit.

Rubbing her tired eyes, Anna felt a headache coming on and wished she smoked often enough to have some on her. Picking up her books from where she'd dropped them on the ground, she stood and began walking back home, vowing to herself that she was _never_ going back there. She would happily do her junior year ten more times before she ever went back there.

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**A/N** As usual, thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading and being awesome. Reviews are great, please leave one :)


	9. Playing Nice

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders.

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Wednesday, March 9th, 1966**

Steve pulled his car up outside the DX and climbed out, Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Johnny following suit. It was lunchtime and they had agreed that morning to head over to the DX for lunch and to hang out with Soda while he on was his break. Soda had only dropped out six weeks ago and they were all still getting used to not seeing him during lunch.

Steve threw a half-hearted wave to Billy who was filling up a car as they made their way inside.

"Hey, y'all," Soda said when he saw them before yelling at one of the guys out back that he was going for lunch.

Steve and the guys all called their hellos back and went about deciding what they wanted for lunch. Steve grabbed himself a bar of chocolate and a Coke and made his way outside with Soda.

"How's it goin', buddy?" Soda asked as they sat themselves against the side of the building.

"Alright," Steve said and flipped his collar up to protect against the wind.

"You never told me why ya didn't come around last night," Soda said, taking a bite out of his own chocolate bar.

Steve shrugged. "Wasn't in the mood."

"You get in another fight with Anna?" Soda asked laughing.

Steve scowled, hating that she was the reason for a lot of his bad moods these days. "Yeah, she started talking shit about Mom."

Soda's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped laughing. "What'd she say?"

Steve took a bite of his chocolate bar, wishing they had walked further away from the gas station so he could light up. "Some stupid story about her fallin' off her bike outside my house and Mom rushing out to help her."

"Story? As in she was making it up?"

"Na, I'm pretty sure she was tellin' the truth," Steve said. "But then she started on about what a nice lady she was and how sorry she was about her dying."

Soda nodded and Steve immediately felt bad. It had only been three months since Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had died and Steve knew Soda and his brothers were still trying to deal with it. _Idiot,_ he thought to himself.

"Sorry, man," he said quietly to Soda.

Soda waved his hand as if to brush the apology away and grinned at him. "It's all right, Stevie," he said.

Two-Bit, Johnny and Ponyboy finally made their way around the side of the building and sat down with them, forming a messy kind of circle.

"Did I tell you fellas how well my date with Kathy went last night?" Two-Bit started and Steve decided to zone out. Since Evie had broken up with him he hadn't been in the mood for a bull session with the guys.

He stifled a sigh. Even Evie and the extremely short skirt she had been wearing that day hadn't been enough to put him in a better mood. He hated that he had let Anna get to him so much but she had and he hated her for saying all that stuff about his mom, someone she didn't even know.

He couldn't stop his anger at her and he was pretty sure that she was still angry at him too, considering the lack of annoying him she had done in math that day. Or the lack of anything really. She hadn't even bothered to send a single glare his way and Steve had been glad. Though he had glared at her a few times, he hadn't been in the mood for her bitchiness.

Steve knew that maybe it wasn't just that though. That maybe it wasn't just his anger and her short-temper that was still bothering him. He'd seen in her eyes last night how much his comment had upset her and, as angry as he was, he'd had time to cool down and he may now feel the tiniest bit bad.

He knew that if he were feeling bad for something he'd said to Anna Harris - even if it was just a really, really small part of him that felt bad - then what he'd said must have been awful. Hell, he knew what he'd said was awful, but she'd deserved it, he was still sure of that.

But he did feel a little bad about it. Maybe even a little guilty.

"I'm going down the road a bit for a smoke," Pony said standing up and pulling Steve from his thoughts. "Anyone coming?"

"Na," Soda said while Johnny and Two-Bit got up.

Steve thought for a moment before shaking his head. He was holding out for a ciggie but he wanted to hang out with Soda a bit more first.

"So what did you say after Anna said that stuff about your mom?" Soda asked once the guys had walked off a bit.

Steve frowned a little and told Soda what he had said.

"You don't think that was a bit harsh?" Soda responded.

Steve shrugged and took a drink. "Dunno," he said, "maybe."

"I get that you don't like talking about your mom," Soda said, "but why say something like that?"

"She said she was sorry about Mom dying," Steve said, bitterness in his voice. "The last thing I want from _her_ is pity."

"I don't think it was pity she was giving you," Soda said. "I know she does her best to bug you, but I really don't think she'd give you pity."

"You reckon she was just trying to be nice?" Steve asked incredulously.

"Dunno." Soda shrugged.

Steve shook his head, unconvinced.

Soda sighed. "Steve, you're my best buddy and all, and as much as I like Anna I'll take your side over hers in any fight the two of you have, but even if she wasn't being _nice_ I really think that might have been a little too harsh," he said as Johnny, Two-Bit and Pony came lumbering back.

Steve sighed, crumbled up his chocolate wrapper and finished off his Coke as the guys reached him and Soda.

"Ready to head back, Stevie?" Two-Bit asked and Steve threw the wrapper at his head.

"Yeah," he said and stood up.

They all made their way back to the front of the store, pushing each other around a little, trying to get one another to topple over.

"See y'all later," Soda said grinning as he walked back inside.

"See ya," Steve called and started for his car. The small, tiny, insignificant little piece of guilt he'd felt before his talk with Soda had become bigger. Not a lot, but definitely bigger and Steve wasn't at all impressed by it. He was even less impressed by the fact that he agreed with Soda; it _had _been a little too harsh.

XXXXX

Anna sighed and tried her best to control her temper. She'd outright told Danny last night that, no matter what he said, she was not going back to Steve's house even if it meant she failed her junior year. The fact that Tim had been there and the 'I told you so' smirk he'd given her had just made her angrier than she had been to begin with.

At the time Danny had simply stared at her for a moment, giving her a cool look that reminded her too much of his best buddy, and nodded. She had hidden her sigh of relief at avoiding an argument with him and headed to her room.

Now however, he seemed to have it in his mind that she was going back to tutoring, and nothing _she_ said was going to change that.

"I ain't going," she said again.

"Yeah, you are."

"I don't understand why you're tryin' to make me go," she was almost yelling as they stood in the kitchen. "You didn't care last night that I wasn't going back."

"Last night you were upset enough as it was; I wasn't about to go arguing with ya when you were in that kinda state."

"I wasn't in a state!" she cried.

"You were pretty upset," he said.

"I wasn't upset," she said in a cool voice. Of course she had been upset, but she wasn't about to admit it. "I was angry."

Danny snorted. "Your eyes show how you're feelin' almost all the time," he said. "'Course it's been a while since I've seen ya really upset but do you really think I _wouldn't _be able to tell that you were?"

Anna glared and said nothing.

"What happened to upset you?" Danny asked

Anna pursed her lips. She hadn't told anyone about the fight last night. Telling Danny what Steve had said _might _make him change his mind about her having to go to tutoring. Then again, considering his anger towards their mom, he might not see it as any kind of big deal and make her go anyway.

"I wasn't upset," she repeated, trying to put as much conviction in her voice as possible.

"Ya know what? Fine. If you don't wanna go back, then don't."

Anna narrowed her eyes, unsure if she should really fall for that. "Fine," she said, "I won't."

"Fine," Danny said again.

They were both silent for a moment, staring at each other and Anna hated that she felt as though she needed her brother's approval anyway. It was her life, her schooling, and he shouldn't get a say in any of it.

He was her big brother though. Her big brother who looked after her more and better than both of her parents put together. He gave her money when he could, he drove her wherever she wanted so long as he wasn't busy and almost always stood up for her. As far as Anna was concerned, he was her guardian and whatever he said went.

"How about a driving lesson?" he asked.

Anna was surprised. Since she had turned sixteen nine months ago Danny had only taken her on a handful driving lessons, each one ending so badly that Danny had refused to give her any more and it took a good couple of weeks for Anna to talk him into giving her another.

It wasn't that Anna was a bad driver, in her opinion at least; Danny was just a terrible passenger who was sure his younger sister was either going to kill him with her driving that was always under the speed limit and faultless, or crash and completely damage his precious car.

That he was offering to take her out now was strange but Anna figured it was because he felt bad about their fight.

"I thought you were goin' to see Ruth," she said, talking about Danny's on-again, off-again girlfriend.

"You wanna go or not?"

"Alright," she shrugged and went to grab her coat.

XXXXX

Steve was sitting on the porch steps smoking with Two-Bit and wondering if it was going to rain again when the red Buick pulled up in front of his house. He narrowed his eyes slightly, confused as to what was going on. That was definitely Danny Harris' car but why was it here? He'd been sure that Anna wouldn't be turning up today.

He watched, silently smoking as the two of them argued and he was pretty sure he knew what they were arguing about. He wondered if Anna had told Danny what had been said between them and if she had, why he hadn't climbed outta the car to try and jump him yet.

"Wonder what that's about," Two-Bit said, watching the two of them.

Steve just shrugged and kept his trap shut. The small amount of guilt had grown a tiny bit more throughout the afternoon and he wasn't in the mood for it to get any bigger by telling someone else about what he had said to Anna and having them tell him what they thought about it.

The guilt may have grown but there was no way he was going to apologise. Soda could tell him he had been too harsh as many times as he liked, and the guilt could grow until he couldn't take it anymore, but he was not gonna outright apologise.

Raising his eyebrow slightly as the sound of their fighting got loud enough for him to hear, he watched as Anna opened her door and climbed out of the car, still yelling at her brother. Steve watched as she held the door open and leaned into the car for a minute before standing back up.

"You're a horrible brother!" she said and slammed the door.

Two-Bit chuckled from next to him and they watched silently as Danny tore off down the street and Anna stood on the sidewalk watching him go.

"Hey, Anna," Two-Bit called when she had been standing there for close to a full minute.

Steve threw an annoyed look in Two-Bit's direction. He'd been half hoping Anna would not even look in their direction and storm off down the street, as he kinda expected her to, but he was also a little curious about what would happen if she came up to them.

She turned slowly and looked at them for a second before stomping up the path.

"Hey, Anna," Two-Bit said again when she reached them.

"Hi," she snapped.

"Glory, what's got you in such a rotten mood?" Two-Bit asked while Steve kept silent.

Anna looked from Two-Bit to Steve, confusion all over her face and Steve kept his face blank as he casually stared back at Anna. She continued to look at him for a moment before nodding to herself, realising that he hadn't said anything to Two-Bit and the only way he was going to find anything out was if she told him.

"It's just Danny," she said, turning back to Two-Bit. "We just had a driving lesson."

That caught Steve's interest but he stayed quiet.

"Really?" Two-Bit said. "And it didn't go well I take it?"

Steve glanced at Two-Bit to see he was grinning at Anna ready tease her in whatever way he could. Steve supposed that was the difference between him and Anna, and Two-Bit and Anna. Two-Bit and Anna teased each other for a laugh, he and Anna did it to annoy and, at times, be nasty.

"It went horrible," Anna said. "I'm not a bad driver but Danny seems to think … well he just doesn't trust my driving at all."

"Are you sure he doesn't just not trust your driving because maybe you _are_ a bad driver?" Two-Bit said and Anna glared at him.

"I am not a bad driver," she said.

Two-Bit stood and grinned at Steve. "Whatever you say. I'm gonna go hunt some action; see y'all tomorrow."

Steve watched as he walked off, trying to avoid eye contact with Anna for as long as he could. _Damn it,_ he thought to himself. _Just because you feel a little guilty for something she kinda deserved sure as hell don't mean you gotta be a pussy around her._ He looked up, keeping a calm look on his face and fought a smirk when he saw Anna was watching Two-Bit, too.

Finally she looked back at him, a weary and defiant look in her eyes and Steve wondered if she was worried that he was gonna tell her to get lost or say something else nasty to her. The guilt grew a tiny bit more at the look on her face but Steve stood firm in his decision not to apologise.

"So was your driving lesson really that bad?" he asked when she finally looked at him.

She sighed. "It was worse," she said, still eyeing him cautiously with narrowed eyes. "I'm really not a bad driver but Danny just doesn't give me a chance."

Steve thought for a moment. He wasn't going to apologise, but maybe if he played nice he would feel a bit better about things. Maybe if he made it obvious that he knew he'd been a bit too harsh then they could just move on. He sighed, knowing what he should do but very much against the idea.

XXXXX

Anna frowned. He obviously hadn't told Two-Bit what had happened and he was making a half-assed attempt at conversation about something other than what had happened. It seemed as though Steve was ready to forget anything had even happened last night, and she didn't mind in the least. She was still mighty angry, and somewhat wary of anything he might say to her but the last thing she wanted to do was fight and have more stuff said about her mom.

"C'mon," he said and stood from the porch.

Anna sighed and went to follow him inside until she saw him heading for the driveway, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"Where are we going?" she called to his back.

"For a drive."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he unlocked his car. "So you can kill me and bury me somewhere no one will find me?"

Steve smirked. "As tempting as that often sounds, no."

Anna forced her normal grin. She was not going to let anything he said get to her.

"I know that deep down you actually consider me one of your best friends," she said, making her way towards the passenger side door.

"Yeah," Steve muttered. "Deep, deep down."

They drove for about twenty minutes before Steve pulled onto a quiet street and turned off the engine.

"Out," he said before getting out himself.

Anna climbed out and met Steve at the front of the car.

"Here," he said handing her his car keys. "You damage my car, you fail your junior year, got it?"

_Oh my god!_ Anna thought to herself as she grinned and went to grab the keys. Steve Randle was not known for letting people drive his car. From what she'd heard it wasn't very often he even let Sodapop drive it.

"I mean it," he said, pulling his hand back and not letting the keys go.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

He gave her the keys and Anna ran to the driver's side door which Steve had left open. Climbing in she turned and smirked at Steve, knowing how much he hated having her in his seat.

"Ready?" she asked, pretty sure he was more nervous than she was. As excited as she was to be driving Steve's car she was kinda nervous too. Not only was this her first time without Danny but, and she would never tell Steve, his car was a lot nicer than Danny's and damaging it was a pretty scary thought.

"Put yer seat belt on," he said, doing up his own.

Anna did as he said and put the key in the ignition. She was more than ready to turn it when Steve started talking.

"How much do you know about driving?" he said.

Anna frowned, hand still on the keys. "What's to know? You put it in gear and take off."

Steve gave her a look.

"Fine," she said and leaned back against the seat. "I know all the road rules, I know which is gas and which is brake and which is clutch, I know how to emergency brake, I know how the change gear properly, and I know -"

"O.k. I get it," Steve said and motioned for her to start the car. "Just go slow though."

Anna started the car up, put it into first, took off the hand brake, checked all her mirrors and pulled away from the curb. She headed down the quiet street and onto the main roads, sending a quick grin at Steve who had a small frown on his face.

"It's fine," she said, signaling right. "I ain't gonna crash."

An hour later when she pulled up in front of her own house, she was smirking to herself and Steve was no longer frowning. They climbed out and Anna handed the keys back and headed inside, realising that, in a roundabout way, letting her drive his car had been Steve's way of apologising. Anna figured not going out of her way to damage his car had been hers.

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**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Also, thanks to those who are reviewing. Your reviews are awesome and keep me going so I would love more and love to hear how you think the story is going :D


	10. Violence Fetish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or the song Violence Fetish by Disturbed.

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**Saturday, March 12th, 1966**

As with all high school football games Steve and the guys attended, their attention was not in any way on the game being played.

Dally had taken off looking for Sylvia, having been told by Curly Shepard that she'd come to the game with some other guy. Dally had been pissed and Steve half expected him to come back with at least a black eye.

Pony and Johnny were sitting in the seats on which Steve and Soda were leaning, quietly talking about some movie they had seen the night before. For once Steve didn't mind too much that Pony was there; he and Soda weren't with any girls tonight and, because Johnny was there too, Pony had kept fairly quiet and out of the way.

Two-Bit was standing next to him and Soda, occasionally adding to their conversation about the Pontiac that they had worked on that day while chatting to every greaser that walked past and keeping an eye out for Kathy at the same time.

Steve continued talking to Soda about the engine of the Pontiac for a few minutes before heading to the john for a piss. Making his way through the crowd, he pushed a couple kids out of his way and walked into the tiny brick room.

He quickly relieved himself, did up his jeans and walked to the falling apart sink to wash his hands. Scrubbing hard in a vain attempt to get some oil stain off of his hands, Steve realised that if Two-Bit was waiting for Kathy then his chances of not seeing Anna that night were fairly slim. It didn't bother him too terribly; they had been getting along alright the last few days, but he still didn't particularly want to see her.

The door to the small room banged open as Steve finished rinsing his hands and turned the tap off. His temper rose as he watched Evie and Bobby Miller pull away from each other and straighten up in the doorway. From how disheveled her blouse was and the amount of lipstick residue on his mouth and neck, it was obvious what they had been doing.

Steve resisted the urge to yell at them. He knew he had a temper, he'd been told plenty of times, but he had enough pride to keep himself in check. He flipped up the collar on his jacket and stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, keeping his face completely void of any emotion, despite the sudden heaviness in his chest that he chose to ignore.

"Steve." She gasped his name and Steve hated that it didn't sound the way it used to when he had her gasping in pleasure.

"Evie." He practically spat her name, doing his best to put all his hatred for the situation she'd put him in right then as well as the situation she'd put him in with Anna into his tone.

"Um." Her wide eyes glanced from the floor, to the toilet, to Miller, to anywhere but him. "How are you?"

"Just peachy," he said.

Evie nodded. "Right, well good. Um … See ya."

She made a hasty retreat out of the bathroom, pulling Bobby Miller along behind her and Steve scowled the minute they were out of sight. Grabbing his comb out of his back pocket, he ran it roughly through his hair a few times before shoving it back in his pocket.

Clenching his fists, he paced for a moment in the small space, needing to somehow get his anger out before leaving the bathroom. His knuckles itched to hit something, to have some kind of violent contact with anything.

"Bitch," he said furiously before pulling back and punching the brick wall in front of him. "Bitch."

XXXXX

He'd done his best to wash the blood away but it just didn't stop coming. He wriggled his fingers slightly as he walked back to the guys, eyebrows drawing together at the pain. He was glad that he hadn't managed to break anything; that just would have made his fucking night.

Ignoring the pain, he continued flexing his fingers at his side, putting in as much movement as he could. He needed to get used to the pain and get some normal feeling back in his fingers before he reached his buddies. They didn't need to know that he'd cracked a little and stupidly punched a brick wall. They'd all understand, even Dally considering how many guys he'd punched over for just lookin' at Sylvia. But hitting someone and hitting a brick wall were pretty different and Steve didn't really want them knowing exactly how upset he was.

He finally made his way to where he'd left them all and swore inwardly when he saw Anna talking with Soda. The last thing he needed was having her around. He wasn't in the mood for her doing her best to annoy him and giving him that stupid grin when she managed - which she always did.

He thought about ignoring her and going to sit with Johnny and Pony but decided that'd just encourage her.

"Hey," he said and stood next to Soda, leaning against Johnny's seat.

"Hey, Stevie," Anna said, grinning over at him.

Steve ignored her. "Where'd Two-Bit go?"

Soda shrugged. "Off somewhere with Kathy."

"Leavin' you here with us," Steve said to Anna, unable to mask his annoyance.

"Yes," she said, still grinning.

"An' you're happy about that?" he asked.

She laughed. "Aw, Steve, why wouldn't I be happy to be left here with you?" she asked, blatant sarcasm radiating from her voice.

Steve shrugged and said nothing. He just couldn't be bothered bantering with her; he was pissed off about Evie and his hand was burning with pain.

"What the hell?" Anna closed the few feet between them and grabbed his wrist.

"Hey!" he said, wanting to pull his wrist back but not willing to risk the pain.

"What the hell did you?" she asked as she and Soda peered at his hand.

"Nothin'," he said.

"Bullshit."

"Shit, Steve. That looks pretty bad," Soda said.

"You need to ice it," she told him as Two-Bit and Kathy arrived.

"Ice what?" Kathy asked.

"Since when are you a fucking nurse?" Steve asked, ignoring everyone else.

"It might be broken," she said, staring up at him.

"It ain't broken. See?" Steve clenched and unclenched his fist while she still held his wrist, pushing away the wince of pain as quickly as he could.

"What the fuck did you do?" Dally asked, walking up to them sporting a split lip instead of the black eye Steve had been expecting to see.

"It's nothing," he said and made a pathetic attempt at getting his hand back.

"You need to ice it," she said again, holding on to his wrist tighter.

"You get in a fight, Steve?" Johnny asked as he and Ponyboy appeared from behind them.

Anna snorted. "Sure, with a brick wall maybe." She stared at him, stunned, when he didn't immediately deny her accusation. "Jesus, you punched a brick wall, didn't you?"

"Shut the fuck up," Steve said and, disregarding the pain he knew it would cause, yanked his hand away from her.

He'd had enough. It was bad enough her being there in the first place, now she'd gone and made what he'd done obvious to all the guys; guys who had really bad fucking timing.

"Fuck off, Anna," he said, "or I'll start thinking you actually like me, what with all this fussing."

Soda chuckled. "Yeah, what's with that, Anna?"

Anna shrugged. "Habit, I guess."

"Habit?" Soda asked.

"Who do ya think cleans Danny up after every damn fight he gets in? My dad?"

Steve fought the urge to say it obviously wasn't her mother.

"That reminds me," Dally said, "I just got into it with one of Shepard's boys."

"Which one?" Steve asked, happy with the change of conversation.

Dally smirked at him. "Bobby Miller."

XXXXX

Steve was more than a little pleased when Anna and Kathy decided to go grab a Coke and walk around for a while. Admittedly, she had laid off him as soon as the subject had been changed, simply telling him to ice his hand when he got home, but he had seen her giving him sneaky looks all night. As if she was trying to catch him in pain.

'Course he was in pain but he wasn't going to let her see that. His whole hand was throbbing and already starting to swell. He couldn't see, due to the dried blood, but he was pretty sure there would already be bruising too. What he'd never tell Anna was that he would definitely be icing it when he got home. Not because she'd said he needed to, just because he needed the use of his hand for work.

The pain in his hand wasn't really his biggest problem though. As much as he tried, he couldn't get Evie and the picture of her and Miller out of his head. He'd caught them in time to see them pulling away from each other and to see how close they'd been.

He hated that she had moved on; first with Terry Armstrong, now Bobby Miller. Sure, she wasn't going steady with either guy, but that was hardly the point. The point was that she had wanted to date other people and that's exactly what she was doing.

Steve pushed away the thought of what else she may be doing with them. He didn't want to think about that. He had been Evie's first and, though he was sure she wouldn't go sleeping around, he had also been sure she wouldn't break up with him. If she was gonna go around dating guys like Bobby Miller, who knew what else she was going to do?

Steve rubbed the knuckles of his good hand as best he could with his bruised one, about ready to hit something else. At least her date with Armstrong obviously hadn't gone well. Not only that but he hadn't had to see that one. Her date with Miller, on the other hand, was clearly going rather well and he'd had to deal with seeing them together.

He was starting to wonder why he even wanted her back. She had moved on and he should be doing the same. He didn't want to, though. He wanted Evie back and, as far as he was concerned, she could keep dating all those guys; it didn't matter. He'd get her back.

"Hey."

Steve looked at Soda who was sitting next to him. He was staring at something near the front of the stands and he had a calm look on his face. His eyes were cool and he was sitting slightly hunched in his seat. Steve looked towards where Soda was looking and saw three of the four guys who had come into the DX the other week.

"Any reason they've been glaring at you for the last two minutes?" Soda asked.

Steve smirked and flipped up the collar of his jacket. "The ugly one in the middle is the owner of the Mustang I was tellin' ya about."

"No kiddin'." Soda grinned. "Reckon they're gonna start any trouble?"

Steve stared back at the guys and smirked. "Na," he said. "At least not here. They're on our side of the stadium; they'd hafta be pretty stupid."

"Well, they're Socs ain't they?"

Steve grinned. "Good point."

"Ya know," Soda said, throwing him a reckless grin, "I wouldn't mind too much if they did. It's been a while since I've been in a good fight."

Steve grinned back. "Me too, buddy; I'm just about itchin' for a fight, but it ain't gonna happen tonight unless they start it. I'm kinda useless now." He held up his bruised hand.

Soda grinned at him. "You were crazy doin' that ya know?"

Steve shrugged. "Probably."

"I s'pose you're right though," Soda said, turning back towards the Socs, "tonight's no good. You can't use your good hand, Two-Bit took off after Kathy and Anna, and Dally took off with Pony and Johnny. I'd be on my own."

"Good thing they don't look about ready to start somethin'," Steve said.

"They look pretty angry though." Soda was glaring right back at them but Steve could see he was fighting an amused grin.

Steve looked at the guys and narrowed his eyes. They obviously wanted to come up and start something with him and despite his bad hand he wanted them to do it - badly. He wanted to get in a fight, let off some steam. He was willing to beat the shit out of some Soc because he wasn't about to let his feelings about Evie and Miller - Evie in particular - be shown by beating the shit out of Miller, which was what he really wanted to do.

"Who're the shit eaters?" Two-Bit asked, pissing Steve off when he and Kathy took the last two seats next to Soda, leaving Anna to sit next to him.

"The guys who followed Steve," Soda said.

"Wait, they followed you? How come?" Anna asked.

"Trust you to stick you nose in," Steve said, ignoring her question.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I know the one in the middle," she said, turning to look at them.

"What? How?" Now that was interesting.

"I watched Curly Shepard kick the shit outta him for hassling Angela."

"What the fuck? How old is Angela, twelve?" Steve asked as the guys turned and started walking off.

"Thirteen, but what's the difference? It's still disgusting."

Steve nodded in agreement. Only a sick bastard hit on a fucking kid.

"So why'd he follow you?" she asked him.

Steve didn't know if it was that he was so angry about Evie or that he'd had enough shit for one night, but he decided not telling Anna would just cause more trouble than he could be bothered with.

"He reckons I took his hubs," he told her.

"And did you?"

"No," he lied.

She laughed. "You're lying."

Steve shrugged. "He a good fighter?" he asked.

"Curly took him easily enough once he got him alone," she said and paused for a moment. She looked in the direction the guys had gone, looked back at Steve and smiled. "I don't think you'll have any trouble taking him, even with a bad hand."

XXXXX

For a few minutes there, Anna considered telling Steve again that he needed to go ice his hand. Thinking it through though she figured it'd just cause more moodiness from him which would cause her to get fed up and result in another fight between the two of them and she did not want to fight with him tonight.

She'd had a great day looking through magazines and gossiping with Kathy, followed by the two of them and Danny going to Grandpa Joe's for dinner. Having to spend some of the night with Steve and dealing with his stubbornness over his obviously sore hand wasn't going bother her. She'd been in such a good mood that she'd given up their argument about his hand pretty quickly and just a few minutes ago had been feeling generous enough toward him to give him a compliment on his fighting.

She was not about to let Steve Randle ruin the good mood she'd been in all night, even if he wasn't being particularly nice to her. Anna rolled her eyes at that. Nice was still not a word she associated with Steve. Through some kind of unspoken agreement, their truce had been put back in place after their driving lesson. She had accepted his roundabout apology and she figured he realised she had been trying to be nice with the talk of his mother. But, with their previous truce lasting only two weeks, she wasn't holding her breath about this one lasting.

In saying that, Anna was going to do her best to make this truce last. She was sick of arguing with Steve. In the past it had been fun and the only way she could best him at anything. Now, spending so much more time with him than she used to, fighting with him was becoming a chore.

"I'm gonna go get a Coke," Soda said standing up. "Anyone want anything?"

Two-Bit, Kathy and Steve put in their orders while Anna stood up.

"I'll come with you," she said.

She and Soda chattered happily as they made their way out of the stands towards the food and drink stands near the entrance. It was strange to her that she got along so well with Soda when his best buddy couldn't stand her but she supposed with always getting along in the first place and all the double dates she and Soda had been forced together on with Steve and Evie, it wasn't too surprising.

Soda stopped mid-step halfway to the drink stand. "And that'll be why Steve punched the wall," he said staring toward two people who were practically wrapped around each other.

"Evie," Anna said, not loud enough for her cousin to hear. She turned to Soda. "You think he saw them?"

Soda looked annoyed. "Yeah, I do."

Anna didn't understand two things. One, why her cousin was making out with someone as greasy as Bobby Miller. Of course she'd never understood why she used to make out with Steve either but even he was better than Bobby. And two, why Steve would want Evie back after seeing them go the way they were. She mentioned the latter of the two to Soda.

"I love my cousin, I really do. But I do not understand why Steve wants her back," Anna said. "She ain't exactly being shy about having moved on."

Soda shrugged and continued to stare in Evie's direction as they continued past her and towards the concession stands.

"I don't really get it either," he said. "But it's what he wants, and I'm pretty sure he'll get it."

"You are?"

Soda grinned at her. "Oh yeah," he said. "There's a good reason Steve's so damn cocky about everything. There ain't a lot he puts his mind to that he don't get."

Anna nodded her understanding but still didn't get why Steve would want Evie back.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Thanks for the reviews I've got so far, please keep them coming.


	11. No Man Ask For

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or the lyrics to the Queen/David Bowie song I have used in the chapter title.

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**Thursday, March 17****th, 1966**

Anna climbed out of Danny's Buick and sighed with exaggerated relief.

"Aw come off it, Anna," Danny said, climbing out his side of the car. "It ain't that bad."

"Are you serious? We're lucky we made it this far from Grandpa's without the car either breaking down or exploding," she said.

"Now you're just making a mountain out of a molehill," he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and leading the way to the DX station.

"Ha. You know, I don't care that, knowing Tim Shepard, I'm gonna have to wait at least half an hour after you've called him before he decides to come and get us. I don't even care that I have to spend that half an hour waiting at a DX station on a night Steve is working. I'm just damn glad to be outta that car."

Danny scoffed. "It ain't that bad," he said again.

"Sure," she said.

"It wasn't gonna blow up."

"You tryin' to convince me or yourself?" she asked.

They had reached the door to the DX and Danny took his arm off her shoulder and grinned at her.

"Go grab us a Coke if ya want," he said, opening the door for her and handing her some money. "I'll just use the pay phone 'round the side, then I'll be in."

Anna nodded and walked inside, the bell above the door jingling as she did so. She quickly grabbed two bottles of Coke from the icebox and looked around for Steve.

He was making his way out of a back room that she figured was the garage where they worked on the cars and Anna raised an eyebrow at his appearance. He was wiping his hands on a rag that was most probably just making his hands even dirtier, he had streaks of oil, or grease, or something all up his arms and a smudge of the same black stuff on his cheek.

"Don't they have soap in this place?" she asked him.

"What?" he frowned at her a bit and tucked the rag into his back pocket.

"You're filthy," she said, grinning.

He shrugged. "Ya get that when workin' with cars."

"I s'pose you're right," she said and made her way to the counter he was leaning on.

"Whaddya doin' here anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, well there's somethin' wrong with Danny's car," she said handing over the money for the Cokes. "He's calling up for a ride now but he wants you to take a look at it."

Steve nodded and glanced out the window at Danny's car. "Y'know what's wrong with it?" he asked.

"I don't know most basic math," she said, the bell above the door jingling again, "I doubt I know a thing about what's wrong with that death trap."

"It ain't a goddamn death trap," Danny said from behind her.

Anna just smirked as Steve came around from behind the counter and began talking 'car' to her brother. Anna zoned. Cars, fights, math … those were not her language.

She quickly handed Danny his Coke and followed as he and Steve started for the car. Opening her own bottle she took a swig and hoped Tim wouldn't be too long. Winter had been over for a few weeks but nights were still cold and tonight it was getting very cold, very quickly.

Danny popped the hood on the car and he and Steve buried their heads beneath it, continuing their car talk while Anna leaned against the side of the car to wait for them, drinking her Coke and wondering how long this truce with Steve would last.

Since their terrible fight and driving lesson a week ago they'd had three more tutoring sessions and seen each other at school each day. So far their biggest argument had been about his hand on Saturday night, and that could hardly be called an argument, more of a disagreement.

Of course she had failed to mention their latest and nastiest fight to Evie when they had talked yesterday. Instead she had casually mentioned how she was actually learning something about math with Steve teaching her and about how nice it had been for him to take her driving.

"He let you drive his car?" Evie's jaw had dropped in shock.

"Yeah," Anna said as if she hadn't realised that it was kind of a big deal.

"He never lets anyone drive his car," Evie had said. "I mean, he does, but usually only Soda."

"Really? Well, isn't that nice of him," Anna had replied, faking surprise

Steve had told her last week that she wasn't to tell anyone that he had let her drive his car, but talking to Evie today, she didn't think he'd mind too much that Anna had told her. In fact, considering the pleasant surprise on Evie's face, Steve should be glad that Evie knew.

"I'll be right back," Danny said, coming out from behind to hood of the car. "Tim's here."

Anna pushed herself off of the car and looked towards Tim's car. He was sitting inside, smoking and showing no sign that he was planning to get out. She considered heading over and waiting in the car with him while Danny finished here with Steve; some alone time with Tim wasn't something she'd say no to, even if he hardly spoke to her the whole time.

At that moment Steve came out from behind the hood. Wiping his hands again before shoving the rag back in his back pocket, he came to stand next to her, effectively ending her idea of alone time with Tim.

"I ain't gonna be able to fix it tonight," he said, pulling his comb out of his other back pocket and running it through his hair.

She smirked at him and leaned back against the car. "But I thought you could fix anything?"

"I can fix anything," he said, eyes narrowing as he leant his elbow on the car and faced her, "but it needs a new carburetor and I'll need to order it in."

"And then you can fix it?"

"And then I can fix it."

Anna sighed. "Guess I'll be catching the bus tomorrow," she said.

"Guess so," Steve said and smirked at her.

"No need to be rude about it," she said. "Just cuz you've got yourself a car."

"You jealous, Anna?" he asked.

"No," was the only comeback Anna could think of and decided to change the subject. "Your hand's lookin' better."

He glanced down at his right hand that was now normal size and only had a few cuts and bruises and made a fist. "Yeah, it's alright."

Anna couldn't help herself. "Probably not the brightest of things to do, punching a brick wall."

Steve glared at her but said nothing.

"Just sayin'," she said, deciding another change in conversation might be a good idea. "I talked to Evie yesterday."

"Oh yeah?" he was still glaring and sounded casual but Anna was sure he was interested in what she had to say.

"Yeah; I know you said not to tell anyone about me driving your car, but I figured telling Evie was o.k."

He looked at her for a moment. "What did she say?"

"Well, she didn't really say much. But she was real surprised and when I said how nice it was of you; I think she agreed."

"You think she agreed?"

Anna shrugged and grinned. "She looked impressed."

Steve nodded, looked away, and didn't say anything. Anna was tempted to ask why the hell he even wanted Evie back when she was going around dating other guys right under his nose, but bit her tongue. Something like that would be sure to ruin the truce, not even breaking the record of the last one.

"So tellin' Evie was okay?" she asked.

"Tellin' Evie was okay," he repeated and Danny came walking back to them.

"So, new carburetor?" he asked Steve, unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"Yeah, I can order it in tomorrow for ya," Steve said.

"Thanks, Randle," Danny said. "But if I were to acquire one myself, would ya still fix it for me?"

Steve smirked. "I won't be able to do it here and you'll still hafta pay me."

"Done." Danny grinned and Anna bit back a smirk when they shook hands. He pointed at his car. "I'll have a buddy come tow this for me later tonight."

"And I'll pretend I never saw it," Steve said.

Danny smirked and turned to Anna. "Let's go, Miss B," he said and started for Tim's car.

"Why does he call you that?" Steve asked as she pushed away from the car to follow.

"Oh, well, it's shortened from the obvious nickname of _Anna Banana_. You know, Anna Banana, Miss Banana, Miss B …" she trailed off, knowing how stupid it sounded.

"Right." Steve was smirking.

She huffed and narrowed her eyes slightly. "See ya tomorrow," she said and he just nodded in reply, still smirking, as she followed Danny, giving herself a nice look at Tim as he stared off at nothing in particular but probably knew she was watching him.

XXXXX

Tim pulled up outside Anna and Danny's place and Anna unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. She was already out and closing the door when she realised Danny wasn't following and didn't seem to be planning to.

"Are you coming?" she asked through his open window.

"Na," he said. "Me and Tim got some business."

Anna looked up at the house then back at Danny. "But Dad's home," she said, hating that she sounded like such a wimp in front of Tim.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Danny said. "I'm sure he ain't in a bad mood."

"You're kidding me right? I'm coming home alone at night; he's going to rip my head off just like every other time."

Danny lit up a smoke. "I got some stuff I gotta do. I'll be downtown if ya need me," he said, referring to the empty building Tim liked to run his gang from, "and I won't be too late anyway." With that he rolled up his window and Tim pulled away from the curb.

"Damn it," Anna muttered and turned to face the house.

Her dad was funny about what time she came home. If Anna stayed the whole night at Kathy's and didn't bother to tell him, he wouldn't care, or probably even realise she hadn't come home. If she came home at two in the morning after a party at Buck's and he was already asleep, he wouldn't mention anything about it the next day. But if she came home any time after dark and he was home, awake and in a bad mood, he'd be most likely to start on her.

It was as if the old saying 'what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him' was true. If he didn't know - or see - what time she got home, all would be fine. If he saw her sneaking in, that was another matter all together. Anna didn't know if he got angry with her when he saw her get home because he cared and didn't want her out late or if he didn't say a word about her not coming home some nights because he didn't care at all.

Sighing, she slowly made her way up the front lawn and onto the porch. She could see the TV flashing in the living room window and hoped that maybe her dad would be too engrossed in whatever crap he was watching to pay her any mind.

Opening the front door, she figured there was no point in avoiding the inevitable and wandered inside. She closed the door behind her and started into the hall, hoping she could make it to her bedroom without any hassle.

"Anna?" her dad called to her as soon as she made it past the kitchen door.

She turned to face him, seeing that he was making himself something to eat. "Hi, Dad," she said.

"Where've ya been?" he asked.

"Out with Danny," she said. "The car broke down so we had to stop at the DX for a while and wait for a ride."

He stared at her for a while. To Anna it felt like minutes but in reality it was probably only a couple of seconds.

"What were you and your brother doing out together?" he asked.

"Nothing really," she said. "We went to the Dingo and had a burger." Of course they had actually had roast pork at Grandpa Joe's but she wasn't going to tell her dad that.

"Right," he said, nodding as if it all made sense. "So while I've been slaving my ass off at the refinery all day, you and your brother have been out, eating burgers, having fun."

"It was hardly fun," Anna said, unable to stop her second smart comment of the night. "The car broke down and we had to wait in the cold for a ride."

"Don't you dare backtalk to me young lady," her dad's voice began to rise.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"I go to work every damn day to support you and your brother while you two are out, gallivanting around like you don't have a care in the world." He had started shouting.

"We weren't gallivanting," she said. "The car broke down."

"The car broke down, I lost track of time, I got caught up studying. There's always some damn excuse, Anna!"

Anna was frustrated but didn't know what to say. She could defend herself until she was blue in the face but it would make no difference. Her dad would continue to pick fights with her over every little thing.

"Get!" he yelled. "Just go away!"

Anna turned on the spot and headed back out the door she had just come through. Across the porch and front lawn, she started running as soon as she knew she was out of her dad's sight. She got to the park a few minutes later and made her way over to her favourite tree.

Collapsing beneath it she breathed heavily and took off her jacket. She had been cold earlier, while waiting for Tim, but the run to the park had warmed her up quick enough.

"Damn you, Danny," she muttered to herself. He had known exactly what their dad would be like tonight but had gone out anyway. Anna loved him more than anyone and he usually looked after her real well, but sometimes he could be a shitty brother; leaving her alone with her dad and not being home often enough to stop the fights being the most common times.

Anna huffed in frustration and leaned against the tree. She would wait to go home until she either got cold enough to head back and climb through her window - something she probably should have done to begin with - or until Danny got home and came looking for her; whichever came first.

XXXXX

Steve turned the closed sign, locked the door and started home. He hadn't exactly been pleased to see Anna turn up at his work that night but he'd been pretty much done with the car he was working on when she turned up and her being there sure had made the last forty minutes of work go quicker.

Flipping up his collar, he quickly lit a smoke and took a drag before taking a swig of the Coke he had grabbed before leaving work. The Coke was cold, causing goosebumps to break out in his neck, but he quickly evened out the coldness with another drag on his smoke.

He hadn't even made it past Evie's house when he heard an engine rumbling along behind him and realised he was being followed again. Narrowing his eyes slightly and keeping them focused straight ahead, Steve considered his options.

His hand was fine now, apart from a few small wounds around the knuckles and some light bruising. Definitely usable should he need it. But his two fists weren't going to come out on top if there were more than two guys in the car. He was sure he could take two guys, and probably win, but any more and he was screwed.

And he was sure there would be more than two guys in the car.

He didn't get a chance to think the problem through any more than that when the car sped ahead and pulled into the driveway in front of him, blocking his path. Steve watched silently as four guys got out, the same guys who had hassled him at the DX a couple of weeks ago.

Taking one last drag on his smoke, Steve flicked the butt away and took a casual swig of Coke. Slouching a little with one hand in his jeans pocket, he watched the guys with calm eyes even though anger was bubbling up inside of him.

"I told you, you wouldn't be so lucky next time, didn't I?" Bushy Eyebrows asked, standing about six feet away from Steve while his buddies crowded around him.

"Well, shit," Steve said, "I s'pose ya did."

Bushy Eyebrows smirked. "You can be as cocky as you like, Randle, but I know you took my hubs."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "And I told _you_ last time, you don't know shit."

"I know you're gonna get it now."

Steve swirled the coke around in his bottle. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Bushy Eyebrows started towards him and his buddies followed. Steve had about two seconds to make his choice. Risk them having weapons and using them, or risk getting his head kicked in and not properly trying to defend himself. He figured there wasn't really much chance of them carrying weapons.

Smirking at them, he turned slightly and busted the end of his Coke bottle on the fence he was standing next to. The glass shattered at his feet and the four guys stopped mid-step, making it obvious to Steve that he had been right; they didn't have weapons on them.

He held the busted end loosely but firmly in front of him, same way he'd hold a switch. The faces of the guys in front of him had all gone pale and he knew right away there was no way he wasn't going to win this, even if it was by default.

"Well, let's go then," he said, making a move towards them and feeling satisfaction when they all stepped back.

Bushy Eyebrows looked at him a moment and Steve stared right back, eyes cool with hatred, ready for whatever was thrown at him.

"This isn't over, Randle," he said, walking backwards to his car, his buddies already climbing inside.

Steve smirked. "I fucking hope not."

He stood in place as Bushy Eyebrows climbed into his car and drove off. Steve waited for them to turn the corner and for the sound of the engine to fade away before continuing.

"Fuckers," he muttered to himself.

He decided to head to Soda's. If these guys were happy to jump him at night and threaten to come after him again, he figured letting the guys know would probably be a good idea. He continued on, not even noticing when he walked past Evie's and keeping the busted pop bottle with him until he got to the Curtis'.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

More reviews would be awesome. At the moment I'm only getting a few per chapter and would really love more feedback from you if you are reading. Even con-crit is welcome :)


	12. 40 Oz To Freedom

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or '40 Oz To Freedom' by Sublime.

* * *

**Sunday, March 20th, 1966**

Steve sat on the front porch of his house, chain-smoking and wondering what to do about Anna. It was only six in the evening and they had a tutoring session scheduled in an hour, but today was the sixth anniversary of his mom's death and though he'd spent a good deal of the day trying to not think about it while hanging out with Soda, he was now in dire need of a drink and wanted to get the hell out of his house.

Problem was Anna wasn't likely to take him cancelling their tutoring session very lightly. They had a quiz on Tuesday and she needed all the help she could get. Of course, even though he hated to admit it, he was pretty sure that if he were to tell Anna why he was cancelling, she'd understand and not mind too much at all.

But he wasn't going to tell her.

As far as he was concerned, it wasn't something Anna needed to know about. Even though he now knew that it may not be pity she would give him, he still wasn't in the mood for her "nice" bullshit. Not only that, but baring his thoughts and feelings to Anna wasn't something he was keen on doing.

Standing up, he began to pace the walkway on his front lawn. He was going to go get drunk. Two-Bit was spending the afternoon with Kathy and then the two of them would go sit on his porch or go to Buck's or sit in the lot and get mind bogglingly drunk. They'd done the same thing on his mom's anniversary last year and the year before. The three years before that, before Steve'd started drinking, he'd spent his mom's anniversaries either sitting home alone while his dad was at the pub, or hanging out with Two-Bit or Dallas or even Soda if it wasn't at his place. He did anything but being at the Curtis' around Mrs. Curtis.

He'd felt real bad about that after she'd died.

Steve would've liked for it to be Soda he was drinking with that night, but there was no way Darry would allow that on a Sunday night. He supposed he understood. If his dad gave a shit about him, he probably wouldn't be going out drinking that night either.

"Fuck," he said in a low voice, kicking at an empty beer bottle that had been left on his lawn.

He hated this day. This day every fucking year, he was unable to keep thoughts of his mom from leaking through. Soda had done his best all day, trying to keep his mind off things, keeping him entertained and keeping his mind on Darry's truck they were working on. It had worked, too; mostly. Steve'd had plenty of practise at not thinking about his mom, but as was always the case when he was alone on this day, he couldn't put his practise to good use.

Anna bringing up his mom the other week hadn't helped much either.

"Stop yer fuckin' pacing."

Steve turned towards the road to find Dally standing there.

"What are you doin' here?" he asked him.

Dally shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Two-Bit mentioned somethin' about getting shit drunk tonight. I'm in."

Steve nodded, forgot about Anna and headed down the street with Dally.

XXXXX

Anna desperately wanted to cancel that night's tutoring session but she knew there was no chance of that happening. There was a quiz on Tuesday and both she and Steve knew she needed help studying for it. There was no chance in hell Steve would happily let her skive out of that night's tutoring.

She had been happy enough about having to go twenty minutes ago, or as happy as she could be about spending a couple of hours with Steve, but her dad had quickly ruined any good mood she may have been in and made the chance of getting any actual studying done fairly slim.

It hadn't even been 7pm when she had gone to leave, but her dad had started a fight with her anyway, assuming she was going to meet a boy, saying he didn't want her out with some boy after dark. Without letting on that she was failing math and had to be tutored, Anna had told her dad that she was just going to study with a friend. The fact that she was holding a pencil and her math book didn't matter a bit; he still didn't believe her.

"You walk outta this house, don't bother coming back tonight," her dad had yelled. "I'll be locking the door so you can't get in."

"Fine," Anna had yelled back and left the house. Not only would she be able to get inside easily enough through her bedroom window but she had been too damn angry to stay in that house with him. She wasn't in the mood for studying, but even Steve would be better company than her dad.

The walk from her place to Steve's wasn't even ten minutes and not long enough to cool off her bad mood before their tutoring session. She didn't want her temper to come out and end up starting a fight with Steve, effectively ruining their truce, but she also didn't want to make him angry enough to start a fight by being taking time to cool off and be late.

Reaching Steve's house, she took a couple of deep breaths and dragged herself up the path to the porch and up the porch steps. More often than not, Steve would be sitting outside smoking when she arrived but tonight she had to go to the door and knock.

She had to wait a good minute before the door was yanked open and she was surprised to see Steve's dad in the doorway.

"What?" he asked, squinting at her.

"Uh, hi; is Steve here?" she asked.

Mr. Randle scoffed. "Does it look like he's here?"

Anna was silent for a moment until she realised that Mr. Randle was actually waiting for an answer.

"No, I guess it doesn't," she said.

Mr. Randle rolled his eyes at her and began to close the door.

"Wait," Anna said, "do you know where he is?"

Mr. Randle gave her a look and Anna did her best not to shrink back a little. She was beginning to feel as though she were at home, in front of her own dad.

"Probably over at that Curtis house like any other time." Then he slammed the door in her face.

Anna didn't need any other invitation to get the hell off the porch. Steve's dad was just as damn scary as her own dad was and she wasn't looking to have him yell at her as well. Hurriedly she made her way down the porch steps and onto the sidewalk.

Admittedly Steve not being home gave her an out for tutoring that night and she was damn tempted to take it. She wasn't in the mood for it and Steve not being home had just made her angrier and less eager for it, but she needed it. Badly.

Not to mention that she needed a couple of hours before she could go back home.

Anna stood at the sidewalk and thought through her options as they sky went from dusk to dark. She could go home now and hope her dad didn't hear her climbing through her bedroom window. She could go and sit in the park by herself for a couple of hours. She could go to the Curtis' and ask Steve what the hell he was doing, not bothering to tell her their session had been cancelled and making her deal with his dad. Or, she could walk the extra twenty minutes to Kathy's and hope that she was home.

The answer was easy. She wasn't going home yet. She did not want to spend hours alone in the park in the dark, the small amount of time she usually had to spend there being more than enough. She was also going to continue to do her best to keep her truce with Steve and turning up at the Curtis' wouldn't help with that any.

That left Kathy and no study.

Anna turned and began in the direction of Kathy's house. She didn't really want to go there. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Kathy; she just didn't feel like walking all that way just so she didn't have to go home. It would've been a lot easier had Steve been home. It would've been even easier had her dad not been such a jerk.

Turning down East Haskell Street she began wondering if Kathy was even home. She remembered her saying she was going out with Two-Bit that day but Anna couldn't remember if it was just for the afternoon or the night too. As she reached the empty lot that she knew Steve and the 'Curtis Gang' liked to hang out in, she saw a small fire burning in the distance and heard two people talking.

She paused near the street light and could just see the two figures sitting on an old car bench seat in the corner of the lot. The fire flickered a few meters in front of them making it hard for her to tell who it was and she wondered if she should turn around and go the other direction. She was in Shepard territory so she should've been safe, but you never knew what kind of weirdoes were about.

"Anna!" One of the figures called to her and Anna grinned, relief washing over her as she recognised Two-Bit's voice. She began to make her way over to him, realising as she got closer that the other figure was Steve.

"What's goin' on?" she asked when she reached them. Looking at the can of beer they each had in one hand, the bottle of some kind of spirit in the other and the two empty six-packs between them, Anna figured they must have already been drinking for a while.

"We're just havin' a little drinkie," Two-Bit said, swinging his bottle of whiskey in front of him.

"We were supposed to study tonight," she said looking at Steve as the fire warmed her bare legs. "We have a quiz on Tuesday."

"You're right," Steve said, "but I decided I'd rather drink tonight than study."

Anna was about to open her mouth to reply, pissed off and not caring if she broke their truce, when Two-Bit spoke up again.

"Care to join us, Anna?"

She looked at him. "What?"

"Have a drink with us?" he said. "I know you can't really hold your liquor too well, but sit and have a drink anyway."

"Yeah, Anna," Steve said and she looked at him. "I know it's a school night and all, but sit and have a drink with us."

Anna narrowed her eyes at Steve's mocking smirk and thought about it for a moment, weighing her options again now that a new one had been added to the mix. She had resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be getting any studying done when she had found out Steve wasn't home, so she could either walk the twenty minutes to Kathy's, or sit and have a drink and forget about her dad for a while.

The answer was, once again, obvious and the way Steve was smirking at her, practically daring her to sit and stay made it even easier. She dropped her book and pencil on the ground and flopped down opposite Two-Bit and Steve with her back to the small fire.

"Who's gonna share, then?"

XXXXX

Steve figured that he must've been at least a little soused to goad Anna into sitting down and drinking with them. He _knew_ he was a little soused when she had sat down in front of them and he had given her his bottle of whiskey. He wasn't so drunk that he was happy to see her, but he had enough of a buzz to not mind too much that she was there.

Of course when he had invited her to sit down it had been half genuine due to the whiskey, and half to taunt her about being too well-behaved to do it. He realised now that he hadn't really thought that through very well; Anna Harris was never well-behaved.

She had, however, been less annoying in the last hour or so than she usually was. They hadn't argued yet, they hadn't even disagreed on anything. Steve didn't know if she was actually being less annoying due to the whiskey or if the whiskey just made it seem like she was. He didn't care though. He was just glad for it.

"So where's everyone else?" Anna asked, handing him back his whiskey.

He shrugged. "Soda's at home with Ponyboy and Darry."

"Johnny's there too," Two-Bit cut in.

"Yeah, and Dally took off just before you got here; said he had some score to settle with Shepard."

Anna chuckled and silence followed. Steve wasn't used to things being so comfortable and relaxed around her but he wasn't going to question it.

"I've gotta say, Anna," Two-Bit said a while later, handing Anna his whiskey, "as much as I like you, and even though you're my girl's best friend, I'm rather disappointed in you."

In the small light from the fire, Steve could just see Anna raise an eyebrow in intrigue.

"And why is that?" she asked, taking a drink.

"Because you're tryin' to help Stevie here get Evie back. I know that he's helping with ya math and all but do you really have to help him out?"

"Well, that was part of the deal," Anna said.

"Maybe," Two-Bit continued, "but we all know him and Evie gettin' back together is not what Stevie needs."

Steve groaned, knowing exactly what was coming and Anna grinned.

"What exactly does Stevie need?" she asked handing back the bottle.

Two-Bit grinned back at her and stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankles. "A night with a pretty little blonde thing to help him forget about Evie."

"Glory Two-Bit," Steve said. "Like I told you before, do you really think Evie would even consider getting back together with me if she found out I was with someone else?"

"You're right," Anna said, looking at him. "Of course it's okay for Evie to do as she pleases but you'd never have a chance of gettin' her back if you slept with someone else."

"Huh, takin' my side Anna?"

Two-Bit snorted. "She is too. I can't believe you guys are ganging up on me like this. You two aren't supposed to like each other, which means one of you is always s'posed to take my side."

Steve smirked and Anna laughed.

"In that case, if y'all are gonna pick on me, I'm off to hunt up a poker game or something." Two-Bit climbed to his feet. Though he was steady in doing it, Steve could see there was less in his whiskey bottle than there was in his own, even though they'd both been pretty generous with Anna.

"See y'all later," Two-Bit called, making his way across the lot.

Anna climbed up onto Two-Bit's empty seat. "He sure can drink a lot," she said.

Steve nodded, took a drink and handed his bottle to Anna. He knew he must have been drunk when his eyes wandered to her bare legs as she made herself comfortable and he found himself admiring them.

"So, what had y'all drinkin' out here on a Sunday night anyway?" she asked, taking a drink and pulling his attention away from her legs.

Steve shrugged. "Better than bein' at home."

"You ain't lyin'," she said, "I wasn't exactly lookin' forward to studyin' tonight but even bein' around you seemed better than bein' at home."

They were silent for a moment, passing the bottle back and forth and Steve wondered what she meant.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Why what?"

"Why is bein' around me better than bein' at home?" he asked.

"Oh." She seemed surprised by his question. "Well, I had a fight with my dad before I left the house which is actually kinda surprising because usually he starts on me when I get back to the house, not as I'm leaving it."

"You and your dad fight a lot?"

"Sure seems like it," she said. "At least twice a week I'll come home to have him yell and scream at me."

"About what?"

She shrugged. "Anything. Everything."

"What about Danny?" he asked. "Don't he stop him?"

Anna gave him a rueful grin. "He's Tim Shepard's right hand man, he ain't home all that often and Dad usually doesn't start on me if Danny is home."

"Well, what happens when you fight?" he asked. "I mean, does he…" Steve trailed off, a bitter taste entering his mouth.

"Oh no, he don't hit me or nothing. He just yells a lot. It scares me a bit, just because he's so big, but he's never hit me." She took another drink and Steve decided she must have been a little drunk to be telling him all this. "Usually just tells me to get the hell outta his sight, so I do."

"Where do you go?"

"Depends. Sometimes I'll just go to my room and push my chair under the door handle so it can't be opened. If it's real bad I'll climb out my window and head down to the park for a while."

"Why not go to Kathy's? Or even Evie's?" Steve asked, thinking about how he always went to Soda's.

"Oh, well Kathy's is a good twenty minute walk away which isn't fun at night. I would go to my Grandpa's but he lives even further away and Aunt Helen … well, she don't seem to think that Dad can do any wrong, being that he's her big brother and all."

Steve was silent, remembering a few weeks ago when he had thought Anna had been pitying him. Back when he thought the pity was coming from someone who at least had two living parents and an older brother which was a lot more than he had. He was starting to wonder if maybe what she had wasn't all that great after all.

"Me and my old man fight all the time, too," he said. He didn't know why he said it; it just seemed like the right thing to say.

"Yeah?" she turned to look at him but he kept his face blank and eyes straight ahead.

"Yeah, he kicks me out every other week and gives me money the next day to make up for it." He shrugged. "Not much of an apology really."

"Where do you go?" she asked, repeating his earlier question.

"Soda's."

"Right."

They were silent for a bit, both thinking about what they had to face when they went home and wondering if they had maybe been a little wrong about each other.

"Why do ya think he does it?" Steve asked.

Anna looked at him for a moment. "Because of my mom," she said. "I look like her, I act like her, I'm basically her as a teenager and he hates it. They got together as teenagers and I remind him of her and the fact that she left him."

"I think that's the same as my dad," Steve said. "I mean, not the same, but I think he's just so angry about Mom dying and he takes it out on me ya know?"

Anna nodded and took a drink. "Don't tell anyone okay? Only Danny and my grandpa really know how bad it gets."

Steve nodded. "I won't if you don't."

They continued to sit on the car seat, drinking in silence. Steve didn't know what to think about what Anna had said and was surprised to realise that he didn't really hate her anymore. He didn't know if he felt this way because of the bottle of whiskey they had consumed together or that he just genuinely no longer hated her. He didn't know if his hate disappeared because of the new bit of information he'd just found out about her or if it had been disappearing over time.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, watching the light from the fire flash over her face and decided it had been happening for a while. They weren't friends; what they had just shared didn't make them friends. But he didn't think it made them enemies anymore either.

"It's six years today since my mom died," he told her and she looked at him. "That's why I'm out here drinking on a Sunday night."

She continued looking at him for a moment and Steve refused to let himself look away. Finally she nodded and handed him the whiskey.

"I'm sorry," she said and Steve knew it wasn't pity.

* * *

**A/N:** Is this a friendship I see on the horizon? ;)

Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming and thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.


	13. Pure Morning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Pure Morning' by Placebo.

**

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Tuesday, March 22nd, 1966**

Anna looked up at Steve with worried eyes as he climbed off his stool, math quiz in hand. He gave her a quick reassuring nod and Anna's eyes followed him as he made his way up to Mr. Chase's desk. He handed the quiz to their teacher, glanced at her once more and headed out the door.

She bit her lip, frowned and tapped her pencil against the piece of paper in front of her, hating that Mr. Chase was happy to let his students leave early for lunch once they finished their quiz. She knew that it didn't really make any difference, but she felt like she would only do okay on her quiz if Steve was sitting next to her like he did when he tutored her. Now that he was gone, she was sure she would fail the last of the quiz.

Looking back at the paper, she did her best to concentrate on the numbers and symbols in front of her. Steve had told her to meet him at work the night before for an emergency tutoring session and had spent his last two hours at work, helping her study. Anna had been more than grateful and glad that their talk on Sunday night had seemed to change things between them.

They hadn't talked about the talk they'd had. They'd both simply seemed to accept that maybe they had more in common than just Evie, that maybe they didn't hate each other anymore, that maybe they didn't even dislike each other anymore.

They had still spent yesterday's math lesson teasing each other, but it seemed to be a joking tease now, rather than the hurtful teasing it used to be. Anna had realised a while ago that she no longer hated Steve, and she was just beginning to wonder why she had hated him at all.

Finishing the last equation on the sheet, she looked up and sighed in relief. She was pretty sure she had done okay There was still ten minutes to lunch time and she wasn't the last one left in the classroom; that had to say something seeing as in the past Mr. Chase had had to force her to leave once lunch began, whether she'd finished her quiz or not.

Picking up her quiz, she headed to Mr. Chase's desk and handed it over, ignoring the surprised glance he gave her. Opening the door of the room, she was surprised to find Steve leaning against the lockers in the hallway, arms across his chest, waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" he asked, standing up straight.

She grinned. "Pretty good I think. Not as good as yours, I'm sure, but not too bad."

They fell into step together and headed in the direction of the back doors most greasers used.

"You waited for me," she stated, looking up at him. She was surprised; she wasn't going to deny it.

He glanced at her, hands in his pockets. "So?"

"So." She grinned. "That practically makes us friends."

Steve snorted but looked a little amused. "That hardly makes us friends," he said and pushed open the doors they had reached.

"Maybe not," she agreed, crossing her arms against the wind, "but I think you wanna be friends."

"You do, huh?" Steve said, cupping his hand around his cigarette as he lit it.

"Yes. In fact I think you've wanted to be friends for years."

"And what makes you think that?" Steve asked.

Anna grinned at him. "The fact that you kissed me in kindergarten."

Steve stopped and took a drag of his cigarette, looking at her carefully. "You realise you followed that by giving me my first black eye?"

Anna smirked. "Don't change the fact that you kissed me."

"It was hardly a kiss anyways," he said. "You pushed me away before I got close enough for it to be a kiss."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I felt tongue -"

"No you didn't," Steve cut in

"Well maybe not, but you still kissed me," she grinned at him.

Steve scowled at her. "It was a dare," he muttered, starting towards Two-Bit's car.

She followed. "Fine," she said. "It was a dare and we're not friends. But I don't think you hate me anymore."

Steve glanced at her as they walked. "Maybe."

"Maybe nothin'. You don't hate me and you _do_ wanna be friends."

"Ya know, Anna," Steve stopped and turned to face her, "all this talk of bein' friends makes me wonder if it's you who wants to be friends."

She shrugged. "Beats arguin' all the time."

Steve looked at her a moment as he smoked. "Yeah, I guess it does," he said. They turned away and started for Two-Bit's car again and he smirked at her. "But we ain't friends."

XXXXX

"I thought I told you I didn't want ya bussing no more," Grandpa Joe said as he let Anna inside.

"I know, but I had no other way here," she said, handing him the cookies she had just made in Home Ec. "Danny's car should be fixed in time for him to get here for dinner though."

At least that's what Steve had told her. He and Soda had worked on it most of Sunday and he was finishing it up this afternoon before their tutoring session. If everything went to plan, Danny would be at Grandpa Joe's in time for dinner and to give her a ride to Steve's for tutoring.

"Good, good, I've got roast chicken cooking so I don't want it goin' to waste," Grandpa Joe said.

Anna grinned. "Not much chance of that, even without Danny here."

They made their way into the kitchen and Grandpa Joe went about his usual routine of getting her a Coke and brewing himself some tea.

"How's school goin'?" he asked, placing the Coke in front of her.

She shrugged. "School's alright."

Grandpa Joe nodded and sat opposite her as the kettle boiled. "And what about yer math? How's your tutorin' going?"

"Not bad actually," she said. "I think I passed my quiz today."

"Good, good. And you and Steve are still getting along?"

"Well, our truce hit a bump for a couple of days but things seem to be pretty good now."

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

Anna sighed and picked at a cookie. She began telling Grandpa Joe about the bad fight she and Steve'd had the other week, pleased that she could at least tell someone. 'Course she knew she could've told Kathy, or even Danny, but it was only Grandpa Joe that she _felt_ that she could tell and this was the first time she'd been alone with him since the fight.

"It was really bad," she said, as she finished her cookie and the story.

"Sounds like it may have been a big misunderstanding," he said getting up to pour his tea.

"Yeah, I guess it was," she said.

Grandpa Joe sat back down, cup of tea in hand. "And everything's okay now?"

Anna nodded and told him about the driving lesson and the talk they'd had.

"I told him about Dad," she said.

Grandpa Joe looked at her steadily and leaned forward, his crucifix necklace popping out the front of his shirt. "And what did Steve have to say about that?"

"He kinda understood, actually," she said, half shrugging and not wanting to go into too much detail about a secret that wasn't hers to share.

"Sounds like the two of ya might actually start getting along properly and become friends."

Anna grinned, remembering her conversation with Steve about that earlier that day. "I suppose we'll see."

They spent a while talking about bits and pieces, Anna's other school work and Grandpa Joes poker games with his buddies. The oven buzzer for the chicken went off just as Danny pulled up outside and Anna got up to get the plates out.

"Steve sure did a good job," Danny said, coming inside and sitting at the table. "Sure knows what he's doin' with cars don't he?"

"That's what I've heard," Anna said.

"Didn't charge me much either," he paused and gave Anna a look. "I really don't get why you hate him so much. He seems like a pretty good guy."

Anna raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

Danny nodded and began eating his dinner. "Yeah," he said, his mouth full of chicken. "We got to talking about some car he was workin' on at work …"

Anna tuned out as Danny began telling Grandpa Joe about whatever car he'd been talking to Steve about. She didn't hate Steve anymore, but hearing about some car he and Danny has spent the afternoon talking about just didn't excite her they way it did them.

XXXXX

Having over an hour before Danny would arrive back at his place with Anna, Steve decided to head to Soda's and hang out for a while. Lighting up a smoke, he made his way down the street. He hadn't even made it half way to Soda's when he saw the green Mustang speed past the street ahead of him.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself.

He was really starting to get sick of these guys. He'd seen them again on Monday night as he and Anna had left the DX station. Having taken his car to work that day he hadn't had to deal with the Socs but he wasn't sure if he'd been pleased about that at the time or not. Thinking about it now, as he walked alone just before dark, Steve realised it had probably been a good thing.

If these guys were stupid enough to keep coming after him in his own neighbourhood, then Steve was pretty sure they were smart enough to have brought weapons this time. He'd got lucky last time, he knew that. But this time, he didn't have any kind of weapon on him and they were probably armed to the nines.

He heard the engine turn onto the street he lived on just as he turned onto East Independent. He kept going. These guys may be about to kick his head in but he wasn't going to run away from it; there was a good chance he'd make it pretty close to Soda's before they caught up to him, plus, though he was a little worried, he had too much pride to run. His worry was short lived as he saw Two-Bit and Dally heading down the road towards him, though.

Steve nodded at them as the car came around the corner, suddenly hoping the guys would catch up to him and start a fight. He'd been hanging out for a fight for a while, and he knew that with his two buddies with him, they could take them, no sweat. He smirked a little. Especially with Dally there; he could get a little crazy when he was pissed off and he sure looked pissed off then.

"What the fuck?" Dally asked as Steve reached them and the Mustang stopped behind him.

"Dunno," Steve said and turned to face the car.

Steve flipped up the collar of his jacket, Dally shoved his hands in his pockets and Two-Bit slouched, all of them giving the Socs getting out of the car their meanest looks. Bushy Eyebrows led the way as he and his three buddies stopped about six feet away. Steve saw Dally's jaw clench out of the corner of his eye and knew he was itching to cuss out the guys in front of them. He wouldn't though; he knew it was Steve's fight and was going to leave the first move up to him.

"You're well outta your territory," Steve said in a low voice.

"I know that," Bushy Eyebrows snapped. "I came to make a deal."

Two-Bit scoffed and leaned his elbow on Steve's shoulder. "We don't make deals with shit heads," he said.

Bushy Eyebrows ignored him and continued talking to Steve.

"I want to race."

Steve put his hands in his pockets and kept his face calm. "You wanna race?"

Bushy Eyebrows nodded. "I know you think you're hot shit when it comes to cars but the fact is you're just some dumb greaser who knows nothing."

Steve tensed, feeling Dally and Two-Bit do the same.

"So," Bushy Eyebrows continued, "I want to race and get my hubs back. And don't bother denying you have them; I know you do."

Steve gave a shit-eating grin. "Don't know what you're talkin' about."

Bushy Eyebrows was getting angry but Steve could see he was smart enough to keep his distance and not try anything.

"What the hell makes you think I'm gonna agree to this anyway?" Steve asked.

"It would be in your best interest to agree to this," said Bushy Eyebrows.

"And why's that?" Steve asked.

"Because if you win, I won't go visiting that pretty little thing you were with on Monday night."

It took Steve a moment to realise he was talking about Anna. He still didn't quite see the attraction Dally, and apparently Bushy Eyebrows, saw when it came to Anna. Sure she wasn't ugly but he wasn't entirely sure about pretty either. In any case, his eyes narrowed.

Threatening girls pissed him off no matter who the girl was. Sure he'd threatened to beat the tar out of Sylvia a while back for hanging round Johnny the way she was, but he'd never physically meant it. But he knew this guy was serious because if he was stupid enough to go after Shepard's little sister, he'd have no problem going after Anna.

Though, he was kinda tempted to tell Bushy Eyebrows to fuck off and let him go after Anna. Partly to watch Anna give just as good as she got, like she always did and partly to see Danny beat the shit outta him. But Steve quickly decided there was no need to pull Anna into this and that if anyone was going to beat the shit outta this guy, it would be him - even if it was in his car on a dirt road rather than right now on the pavement.

"Well?"

Steve looked at Bushy Eyebrows. "Fine," he said. "You win you'll get your hubs back. I win, you fuck off."

Bushy Eyebrows nodded and Steve was sure he looked more relieved than smug that Steve had agreed.

"You'll be at the drags this weekend?" he asked Steve.

Steve wanted to roll his eyes. Of course he was going to be at the drags. Not a drag race went by that he and Soda didn't go to. Not only did they get to go and race and hang out with their buddies, but taking a bit of money from the Socs here and there was always fun. Instead he just nodded once.

"Good." Bushy Eyebrows took a step forward and held out his hand for Steve to shake.

Steve smirked and raised an eyebrow, Dally scoffed and Two-Bit laughed loudly. Bushy Eyebrows quickly pulled his hand back in, muttered to his buddies that it was time to go and headed back to the car.

"Well," Two-Bit said as they watched the Mustang take off. "This oughtta be fun."

Steve couldn't help but agree.

XXXXX

"No baking today?" Steve asked as Anna climbed the steps to the porch.

Anna grinned. "Sorry, they all went to Grandpa today. You'll get yours tomorrow."

Steve nodded and they headed inside. He still wasn't quite used to how things with Anna had become since Sunday night, but he had to agree with what she'd said earlier that day; it was better than arguing all the time.

They sat down and started on the homework they'd been given for the week, Anna frowning over the equations while he quickly worked them out and moved on to his History homework. He still couldn't quite believe what he had told her the other night. He blamed the alcohol completely, but knew that had she not said anything about her dad, he wouldn't have either. Her talking about her dad had seemed to make him realise that maybe it was alright for her to know about his own dad.

He hadn't told her much, hadn't gone into any of the depressing details, just told her the basics but that seemed to be enough for her. She hadn't gone all girly on him when he'd told her and he'd been thankful for it. The last thing he needed after telling her anything was for her to try and get him to properly open up about it. She'd accepted what he'd said and stayed fairly quiet, keeping to herself.

He wasn't too sure about them being friends though. He didn't want to go back to how things had been before, constantly arguing with her and having her do her best to piss him off. But he wasn't sure he liked her enough to consider her a friend, even if they were being nice to each other now.

"Done," Anna said after a while. "Will you check them?"

Steve nodded and took the paper she passed to him, comparing them to his own. He was pleased to see she had only got three out of the twenty equations wrong. Compared to how little she knew a month ago, that was a good improvement.

"These three are wrong," he told her, pointing them out to her.

"Oh," she frowned at the paper and tapped her pencil against the table as she went back to work with them.

Steve watched her with a frown on his own face. She was helping him get Evie back, probably not having to lie so much about what she said to Evie anymore either, now that they were getting along. She had confided in him, something that only her brother and grandpa knew about. He had told her about his dad and it being his mom's anniversary and he knew it had been okay to do so. He knew she wouldn't tell anyone or push him about it. That didn't mean they were friends.

He sighed and went back to his History notes and started on the essay, wondering why it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading and thanks to everyone who reviewed. Please keep the reviews and comments coming :)


	14. Crash and Burn

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or 'Crash and Burn' by Savage Garden.

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**Wednesday, March 23rd, 1966**

"I'll be two seconds," Anna said and climbed out of the car.

For a day that had started off sunny, blue skied and very warm, it had quickly turned into quite the opposite. The rain that had started coming down heavily during Anna's second period science class and had only just let up as school had let out, though she was sure it wouldn't be for long. Dark, heavy clouds still filled the sky and Anna was so cold she had asked Steve to stop at her place on their way to his so she could pick up a sweater.

Two-Bit, who had decided to skip the science class he and Anna had together, had told them what the weather man on his car radio had reported when she'd seen him talking to Steve outside their math class. One hell of a storm was on its way that night and, deciding they'd both much rather be at home when the storm hit than walking home or driving the other home, they'd quickly agreed to move their tutoring session up to straight after school instead of that evening.

This had worked out extra well for Anna seeing as Danny had already told her he'd be too busy to pick her up from school that day. Bussing home wasn't any fun as it was; it was even worse when it had been raining.

Thankful for the break from the downpour, Anna ran up the walkway to the porch, not seeing her dad's car in the driveway. Shivering a little, she made her way to the door, pushing it open and slamming it shut behind her. She'd only taken four steps when her dad blocked her path, coming out of the kitchen.

"Oh! Hi," she said, her stomach flipping.

Stan Harris narrowed his eyes and walked towards her. "You shouldn't look so surprised to see me, Anna. This is my house after all."

_Shit!_ She thought to herself, knowing some kind of argument was coming.

"I know, Dad," she said as politely as she could.

"Yet you and your brother seem to think you run this place," he said. "I already put up with him not being in school or workin', I ain't about to do the same with you."

Anna nodded. "You want me to get a job?" she asked.

He stared at her and though she did her best to defiantly hold his gaze, she looked away after a few moments. She hated not being able to stand up to him.

"What I want," he said, taking a step closer, "is to know who's in the car outside?"

Anna's jaw dropped and she quickly shut it. She had expected a lecture about not helping around the house and not having a job. She hadn't even thought that her dad may have seen Steve pull up outside.

"It's just a friend," she said, though technically it wasn't quite true.

"You tell me who it is right now, Anna," he said and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I know it's a boy."

"It is," she said carefully. "But he's just a friend. It's actually Steve Randle, you know, Evie's ex-boyfriend," she said, hoping if she mentioned someone he'd at least heard of, he'd let up on her.

"Right, so now you're goin' round with your cousin's sloppy seconds? Real classy, Anna."

"I am not," she snapped. "He's just a friend and he's helping me with schoolwork."

"You think I believe you? You think I'm actually gonna let you outta this house when I know exactly what you're planning on doin' with that boy?" Stan yelled.

"I'm not planning on doin' anything," she said and started backing towards the door.

Stan's hand latched onto her arm just above her elbow, holding her in place and squeezing tightly. "You ain't goin' anywhere!"

XXXXX

Steve quickly got sick of waiting for Anna. He wasn't overly patient at the best of times, though he did his best not to let it show, and having been holed up indoors all day due to the rain, the last thing he wanted to do now was to sit in his car watching the windows fog up.

Quickly lighting up, he got out of the car, figuring waiting in the cold was better than the muggy heat of the car. The cool air was almost enough to change his mind, but he flipped up the collar of his jacket and braved it, figuring he'd make the most of it before the storm.

He stood next to his car, annoyed that it was too wet to lean on and looked up at Anna's house, taking a drag of his smoke. He figured if she was too much longer, he'd go hurry her up but then, all at once, he saw the car in the driveway and heard a cry come from inside.

Taking a step forward, Steve wondered if he should go in or just wait. He was certain it was her and her dad fighting and he knew if someone overheard him and his dad fighting, he would want them to stay the hell out. But Anna was a girl. He knew she'd be pissed at that reasoning, but it was what it was. She'd said her dad had never hit her, but when Steve heard her cry of "Let me go!" he knew he had to go in.

He took one last drag of his smoke, flicked away the butt and made his way up to the house, Anna's screaming and her dad's yells getting louder. Steve didn't remember ever seeing her dad before but definitely remembered Anna saying he was big. He didn't know what she thought 'big' was but hoped her shortness made him seem bigger than he was. Especially since the only weapon Steve had was the element of surprise, and that was only if her dad hadn't seen him coming.

He walked quietly up the porch steps and to the front door, hearing Anna and her dad just inside. He quickly clenched his fists to relieve some tension before grabbing the door handle and pushing the door open.

Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at him, one filled with rage, the other with relief. Seeing Anna's dad's hand drop to his side Steve felt a burning anger that Anna's cries for her dad to let her go had not been an exaggeration. He stared at the two of them a minute, eyes narrowed. Anna's dad - he couldn't quite bring himself to think of him as _Mr. Harris -_ was now staring at him in shock while Anna looked wary.

"C'mon, Anna," he said and held his hand out to her.

"Who the hell are you?" her dad asked.

Steve looked at him, reaching out as Anna crept towards him, holding her arm. He didn't know what he'd do if he grabbed her again but decided to do his best to keep his mind off of Anna.

"One of the many people who won't be pleased about the bruises that are bound to show up on Anna's arm tomorrow," he said, feeling Anna's hand slide into his own.

"You fucker!" her dad yelled, stepping forward. Steve pulled Anna behind him and fought to keep disgust off of his face at the smell of alcohol that reeked from her dad. At least he had that to his advantage.

"C'mon, Anna," he said again and began walking backwards, pushing her a little. "Time to go."

He backed them both out of the house and shut the door behind him, wanting to smirk at the confused look on her dad's face but not stupid enough to do so. The guy was big, possibly bigger than his own dad. Steve vaguely wondered how the hell he'd managed to stand up to Anna's dad but couldn't stand up to his own. He quickly pushed that thought out of mind and led Anna to his car, the rain that had started again while he was inside, pouring down on them.

He could feel her hand and the rest of her shaking as he opened the passenger door for her and wondered if she could feel his body shaking too. He was furious and the rage was flooding. Closing the door once she was in he walked around the front of the car and opened his own door. Taking a few calming breaths and a look back at Anna's house he was pleased to see no sign of her dad.

"Put on your seatbelt, Anna," he said, climbing inside and doing up his own.

She complied, having trouble getting it to click with the way her hands were shaking and he started up the car, turned on the wipers and pulled away from the curb.

"You wanna get outta here?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice calm as he sped down the street.

She looked at him and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She nodded.

"Where are we gonna go?" she asked.

Steve shrugged. "I dunno," he said, rubbing his knuckles and throwing a quick grin at her. "Let's just get the hell outta Dodge."

XXXXX

They'd been driving for close to forty-five minutes before Steve finally decided the silence was too much. He'd let it go on this long because it wasn't very often he got such a stretch of silence out of Anna and because he'd hoped it would help him calm himself down. But if anything, he was just getting angrier and Anna's silence was becoming frustrating.

"What the fuck, Anna?" he finally snapped, almost desperate to hit something. "I thought you said he never laid a hand on you?"

Anna looked at him, eyes still wary but the shaking having apparently stopped. "He doesn't," she said. "I mean, before today he never had, not ever."

Steve immediately felt bad for yelling at her, for taking his anger at her dad out on her. If this was the first time her dad had physically hurt her, the last thing she needed was for him to start on her too. He took a couple of breaths and rolled his window down a little, hoping a bit of fresh air would help his temper.

"I'm real sorry," she said.

_What the hell?_ Steve glanced at her, frowning. "What are you apologising for? You didn't do nothing wrong."

"You shouldn't have had to have been pulled into that," she said, playing with the hem of her skirt. "It's bad enough that you have to deal with your own dad, let alone mine too."

Steve watched her as much as he could while he drove and realised that, not only did she feel bad that he'd been dragged into what happened at her house but she was embarrassed about it too.

"Shit, Anna," he said, lighting up two cigarettes and passing one to her. "You don't gotta apologise. It ain't your fault and you got nothing to feel bad about. I know what it's like remember? I ain't about to judge."

Anna nodded, took the smoke and grinned a little. "You're sure lucky he was as drunk as he was."

Steve smirked. "Probably," he admitted, "your dad's pretty big."

It had taken all Steve's common sense to not go back to Anna's place and try to kick her dad's head in for hurting a girl the way he had.

"Bigger than yours, right?" she asked and he nodded.

"You hungry?" he asked, spotting a truck stop and diner up ahead.

Anna grinned. "I'd just about kill for a Coke," she said.

Steve flicked on the indicator, checked his mirror and pulled into the parking lot in front of the diner. Turning off the car, the sound of the rain became ten times louder and he turned to Anna.

"Ready?" he asked as they both flicked their cigarette butts out the window.

She grinned again and Steve was pleased she seemed mostly back to normal. He did okay with crying girls but he wasn't quite sure what to do with an upset Anna.

"A little rain never hurt anyone," she said.

He'd parked as close as he could but they were both soaked as they entered the empty restaurant and as he led them to a window booth, Steve had the vague thought that he probably should've given Anna his jacket.

"At least I decided against a white blouse today," she said, pulling the wet fabric away from her skin.

Steve looked away and sat down. He'd never thought of Anna as particularly good looking, but he was still a red-blooded seventeen-year-old-boy. He couldn't help but notice the way her blouse was sticking to her in all the right places and showing off all the right things.

"What can I get you kids?" the waitress asked, cracking her gum.

Glad for something to look at, Steve opened his menu while Anna replied straight away.

"Cheeseburger, fries and a large Coke, please," she said.

Steve smirked and put down the menu. "I'll have the same."

The waitress wrote down their orders and walked off. Pulling his comb out of his pocket, he quickly ran it through his hair a few times, knowing that the rain had probably messed it up.

"You're worryin' about your hair more than I'm worryin' about mine," Anna said, leaning back.

He smirked. "Good thing too, otherwise my hair would look like yours."

Anna rolled her eyes and ran her hands over her wet hair. "My hair's not curly," she said, "ain't much the rain can mess up with it."

Steve just smirked and put the comb away as the waitress came back with their Cokes. He watched as she placed them down in front of them, before his eyes caught the red marks that had formed above Anna's elbow. He stared at them, feeling his anger rise again.

"Oh." She quickly re-arranged her arms and Steve looked up, knowing he'd been caught.

"You're probably gonna want to wear a sweater tomorrow," he said.

"Probably," she sighed. "Look, don't go saying nothing to anyone okay?"

Steve shrugged. "Who am I gonna tell?"

"Sodapop."

Steve opened his mouth to tell her otherwise but realised she was probably right. He hadn't, and wasn't planning on telling Soda about what she'd said during their conversation on Sunday night but this was different. Sunday night had been a strange moment of trust between the two of them, and the details of it didn't need to be discussed with his buddies. This thing with her dad was different though. He'd been there and seen what her dad had done and, if he couldn't go back and deck her dad, then he was going to need to vent about it to someone.

"You're probably right," he said, "but I tell Soda almost everything."

She nodded. "I tell my grandpa everything."

"You guys are close?" he asked, remembering the way she'd talked about him on Sunday.

"Yeah," she said, smiling a little.

Steve nodded. "Did you tell him about Sunday night?" This was the first either of them had actually mentioned Sunday night and Anna looked at him so surprised that he actually had to look away.

"I told him we talked," she said. "That I told you about dad and that you understood. I didn't say anything about you and your dad though."

Steve nodded. "I haven't told Soda either." He looked away from the rain outside and back at her. "But this is different, Anna. What we said on Sunday was, well I dunno what it was. But this is different."

To her credit Anna nodded. "Just … don't tell Danny," she said.

Steve knew he should probably try to convince her to tell her brother but also knew exactly what it was like to not want anyone to know.

"Sure," he said as the waitress came back over with their meals. "I won't tell no one but Soda."

XXXXX

It was dark and nearing 8pm when Steve finally pulled up outside her house again. Anna looked at it, pleased to see all the lights out and her dad's car gone. She didn't know if he'd gone to work or the pub and wondered if he'd at least sobered up before driving.

"You sure you wanna go in?" Steve asked, turning off the car lights.

"Yeah. The storm's gotta be close and I'd rather be home than caught in it," she said. "Anyway, Dad's car's gone. It'll probably be a while before he gets home."

Steve nodded. "Right. Well, lock your bedroom door or something, so he can't bother you when he gets home."

Anna nodded. "I don't have a lock, but I can make sure he can't get in."

"Good." He was silent for a minute. "You gonna be okay?"

Anna nodded and undid her seatbelt, turning to face Steve. "Yeah, and thanks," she said, "for coming in when you did."

She honestly didn't know what would've happened had Steve not been there and didn't particularly want thing think about it. What _had_ happened had been enough to scare her senseless. Never had her dad been that aggressive towards her and she hated to think it might happen again.

Steve shrugged and pulled out his smokes. "I wasn't about to sit outside and let it happen. I know we never got along before, but I ain't a complete bastard."

Anna nodded, having begun to realise that Steve wasn't even a tiny bit of a bastard. He hadn't said a thing about how upset she'd been, even though the shaking and long silence had definitely made it obvious. He'd passed her a cigarette, seeming to know it would calm her and he'd actually tried to cheer her up. Anna felt like she'd made a bit of a fool of herself but Steve didn't seem to care and she was at least pleased that she hadn't cried in front of him. Too much pride and plenty of practise at not crying in front of Danny and Tim when she was younger had helped her there.

"Well, thanks anyway," she said, watching him light up. "For everything."

"S'okay."

Anna nodded and opened the door, ready to climb out. She was more than surprised when she felt Steve's hand wrap around her wrist to stop her. Turning back she found him leaning towards her a little, looking at her intently.

"Listen," he said. "If things get that bad again, well, you can come to me."

Anna's eyes widened and she nodded. "Thanks," she said again and Steve nodded, letting go of her wrist and leaning back to his side of the seat.

Anna climbed out of the car and into the rain. "Ya know," she said, leaning in the open door, "this _does_ make us friends."

Steve took a long drag of his smoke and looked at her. "Yeah, I guess it does."

* * *

**A/N:** Do you think this will last? Or do you think they'll just end up fighting again?

Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Reviews are always appreciated so let me know what you think :)


	15. Joker & The Thief

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or Joker & The Thief by Wolfmother

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**Saturday, March 26th, 1966**

"There ain't much else we can do to it," Steve said, wiping his hands on a rag as he came out from under the hood and glanced over at the drag strip. "We've spruced her up about as much as we can."

Two-Bit nodded, resting his elbow on the roof of the car as he nursed a beer. "Don't matter," he said, "even before we worked on her she was still gonna win."

Steve grinned and closed the hood of his car. "Yeah, you're probably right."f

"Those Socs may have their cars all prettied up," Soda said, standing next to Ponyboy, "but it's what's unfder all that gloss that counts."

Steve agreed wholeheartedly. He didn't have the nicest car there, that was for sure; but he was willing to bet the whole seven dollars he had on him that night that his was the best looked after. Who looked after their cars better than car nuts?

Plus, he and Two-Bit had skipped school yesterday to spend the day at the DX, working on his Plymouth and getting her ready for the following night. His car was as good as it was gonna get.

"Glory, are drag races always so dusty?" Steve turned to see Anna and Kathy reaching them, Anna making a show of batting invisible dust away from her face.

Steve wasn't too surprised to see them. The race between a greaser and a Soc had quickly become quite the big deal. Maybe not as much as a fight would have been, but most of the greasers Steve knew had turned out to watch and there were more Socs around than normal.

"If you think this is bad, you should see Two-Bit's room," Kathy said, laughing as the hand Two-Bit had snaked around her waist began tickling her.

"Ew, I would rather not."

Steve looked over at Anna, feeling his temper rise at her arms being covered by a sweater. Wednesday's storm had been over by Thursday morning and though unexpectedly warm weather had followed, Anna'd had to wear a sweater all day Thursday to cover the bruises on her arms. He hadn't seen her yesterday but tonight was definitely t-shirt weather and Kathy wasn't wearing a sweater, so Anna wearing one obviously meant the bruises were still visible.

Looking back up, he noticed her watching him. He didn't bother to hide the fact that he was unimpressed.

"All ready to race?" she asked, grinning cheerfully.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"That reminds me," Two-Bit piped in. "I hope you're feeling flattered Anna. Stevie here agreed to this race for you."

"What?" Anna was half frowning half grinning as Steve glared at Two-Bit.

"I didn't do nothing," he said.

"That's not true," Two-Bit said grinning. "He's practically defending your honour by racing tonight."

Soda and Pony laughed but Anna just looked at him. "I don't get it."

"There ain't nothing to get," Steve said but of course Two-Bit couldn't keep his big mouth shut and told her about Bushy Eyebrows threatening to go after her if he didn't race.

Instead of gloating and looking smug about Steve seeming to stand up for her, Anna looked confused.

"How does he even know me?" she asked. "He saw me at the game with y'all but that shouldn't be enough for him to come after me in particular."

"He saw us at the DX on Monday," Steve said, lighting a smoke. "Deal is he gets his hubs back if he wins and fucks off if I win."

A look of realisation came over Anna's face. "Oh. Wait, I thought you said you didn't take his hubs?"

Steve smirked at her. "I didn't."

He was starting to realise that not only did he no longer hate Anna and not only were they now friends but he even liked her a little. Not the way he liked Evie, of course, but maybe the way he liked Kathy.

She was nice now that she no longer had reason to constantly piss him off and she was surprisingly fun. Steve could no longer deny that they were in fact friends now. He figured it pretty much impossible to think of her as anything less after Wednesday.

Something had changed on Wednesday and when she said that what had happened _did_ make them friends, well, he hadn't quite reached that conclusion but he hadn't been able to disagree.

What had surprised him the most was telling her she could come to his house. The last thing Steve really needed was Anna coming to his house one night just to see exactly what he had just seen at her house, but he figured it was better that than her having to sit at home with her dad ready to physically hurt her.

"By the way," Anna said, stepping closer to him. "I got my quiz back today."

Steve glanced at her trying to figure out the look on her face, but for once found it blank.

"And?"

She grinned. "Eighty-two percent."

He smirked. "You owe me big time."

"Hey," she said, playfully shoving his shoulder. "I'm helping with Evie ain't I?"

"Are you? You haven't mentioned talking to her lately."

"Well, I haven't exactly seen her all that much," she said, looking away. "Plus when I have seen her I haven't really had anything I could tell her without telling her things I don't really want her knowing about."

Steve narrowed his eyes, knowing what she was talking about. She could have very easily told Evie about how good he'd been to her on Wednesday, but she didn't want Evie, or anyone else for that matter, knowing about her dad. Steve understood that all too well.

"But," she continued, pasting a smile on her face. "I now have a eighty-two percent math quiz to brag about that I couldn't have got without my tutor."

Steve nodded and lit another smoke. "This is true."

"And I know she'll be at Buck's tonight," Anna said. "So if it makes you happy I will spend the whole night doing nothing but telling her how simply amazing you are."

Steve smirked. "You better."

XXXXX

"That was so much cooler than I thought it would be," Anna said again as they headed into Buck's. "I mean, I always thought cars and racing was kind of, well, dull, but that was really exciting."

She meant it, too. Never before had she thought a car race could be fun to watch, but it really had been. She supposed it was hard to not get into the spirit of things when everyone else there was jumping up and down, screaming for Steve to win.

Steve smirked at her. "Of course it was."

"Seriously," she continued as the two of them walked through the makeshift bar; Kathy and Two-Bit having gone to dance, Dally saying he'd meet them later and Soda having already found someone to dance with and Pony and Johnny having gone home. "All the tension in the air and cheering for you and wondering if you were going to win…"

She trailed off at the look on Steve's face as they sat in a booth. "What?"

"Wondering if I was going to win? You're kidding me, right?"

Anna looked at his raised eyebrow and incredulous eyes and grinned. "I ain't ever seen you race before," she said before adding, "I have seen you speed, but I figured actually racing against someone might be a bit different."

Steve glared at her for a moment. "You owe me a beer," he finally said.

"I do?"

He nodded. "For doubting my driving skills and for all the whiskey you drunk the other week."

Anna smirked. "I s'pose that's fair."

She slid out of the booth and pushed her way through the crowd that had shown up to celebrate Steve's win. She could see Two-Bit and Kathy slow dancing and smiled.

"Two beers," she called to Buck, handing over some change. She grabbed the beers he gave her and quickly made her way back to Steve, doing her very best to not drop the bottles as she got bumped by people from every side.

"God, it's packed in here tonight," she said, sitting down. "Everyone from the drags is here."

Steve grabbed his beer and took a large drink. "That's the way it goes," he said. "Any win over the Socs is reason enough to celebrate."

Anna grinned in agreement and, out of the corner of her eye, spotted Evie heading upstairs with Sylvia. She bit her lip, wondering if cornering her cousin in the bathroom to talk about Steve would be too obvious.

"I just gotta go to the bathroom," she said, making a decision. "I'll be real quick."

Steve nodded. "Come find me when you're done," he said, getting up to go talk to some guys. Anna looked over and saw Henry Phillips and George Silvers, a couple of guys from Tim's gang who, personality wise, weren't as greasy as Bobby Miller.

Quickly making her way up the stairs she was pleased to find no line for the toilet and knocked, knowing both Sylvia and Evie would be in there doing their makeup.

"Someone's in here," Sylvia's voice snapped.

"Sylvia? It's just Anna. Let me in, I really gotta fix my make-up." Anna rolled her eyes at her own behaviour.

The door opened though and she walked in to find, as she had expected, Evie and Sylvia touching up their makeup.

"Thanks so much," she said, grabbing some toilet paper and dabbing at her eyes.

"How've you been?" Evie asked. "I haven't seen you much the last few days."

_That's because I've been avoiding you so I don't have to lie about my dad. _Anna pushed that out of her mind and smiled. "I've been pretty busy and a bit stressed."

Evie turned to look at her. "Stressed? What about?"

"Well, on Monday I had my first math quiz since the tutoring began and only got the results back yesterday." Anna realised she could at least be truthful about that.

"And?"

Anna smiled. "I got eighty-two percent."

"Great! And that's 'cause of your tutoring with Steve?"

Anna nodded. Evie was making this easy for her. "Entirely because of my tutoring with Steve."

"Wow." Evie looked thoughtful.

"In fact," she added, hoping she wasn't going too far, "Steve and I have been getting along really well too."

"You have?" Sylvia finally spoke up.

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I had a bit of a stupid girly meltdown on Wednesday and Steve really helped me out. It really surprised me."

Evie nodded. "I'm not surprised," she said. "Steve was always real good whenever I got upset and cried. I think his mom might have drilled it into him that you should be nice to upset girls."

Anna kept her mouth shut and resisted the urge to defend herself and say that she hadn't been crying.

"So, what? You two are friends now?" Sylvia asked and Anna fought a smirk.

"Well, yes actually."

Evie and Sylvia both looked sceptical.

"Really," she insisted. "In fact I came here with him tonight. Not like a date or anything," she added at their matching, perfectly plucked, raised eyebrows. "We came with Soda, Kathy and Two-Bit too, but they'll be off dancing until it's time to go anyway."

Neither Sylvia nor her cousin said anything for a minute and Anna was pretty sure she'd convinced them. She just wasn't sure if anything she was saying was helping to change Evie's mind about being with Steve.

"I'm glad the two of you are getting along," Evie finally said. "Though, it is a shame it couldn't have happened while me and Steve were together." She turned back to the mirror and pulled out her lipstick. "That would have made things a lot more bearable."

XXXXX

Anna found Steve back at the table they had been sitting in before her bathroom break with two more beers in front of him and sat opposite him again.

He raised an eyebrow. "And ten minutes later she comes back."

Anna made a face. "Aw, you kept time?"

He smirked and pushed a beer along the table for her.

"I ran into Evie," she told him.

"Ran into or followed?"

She pursed her lips. "Um, followed."

Steve nodded. "You wanna get some air?"

"Sure."

Five minutes and about ten congratulatory slaps on the back for Steve later, they were outside, leaning against the trunk of his car. Anna could see a few steamy windows on other cars, but other than that and a few mingling greasers, they were alone.

"So, how'd it go?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "She seemed really pleased that I passed my quiz and seemed to know that it was all thanks to your tutoring. She also said you're really good with upset girls and that she's glad we're finally friends."

"But?"

"But I don't know if it helped any."

Steve sighed and took a drink.

"But she looked really thoughtful about a few things and only had good things to say about you," Anna added.

Steve was silent for a few minutes and Anna decided to leave him with his thoughts and not say anymore. Taking a sip of her beer she watched a car pull into the lot and Tim get out. He nodded to her in greeting and a small smile played on her lips as she watched him walk inside, thinking about how good he looked. She was sure he knew she was watching him, but he seemed to have the decency to never say anything and embarrass her about it.

"Why did she say I was good with upset girls?"

"Hm?" Anna looked back at Steve distractedly. "Oh, I told her a had a bit of a girly moment on Wednesday and that you helped me out." She paused, wondering if she would get snapped at for bringing it up. "She seems to think your mom taught you how to treat a crying girl."

Steve looked at her for a long moment before smirking. Anna was relieved it wasn't a nasty smirk.

"She did," he said. "How old did you say you were when you fell off your bike outside my house?"

Anna did the numbers. "I was about seven, almost eight."

Steve nodded. "The summer after I turned eight I came home from Soda's one day and my Mom sits me down on the porch lookin' real serious. I thought I was in trouble but then she starts tellin' me all about how, when a girl's crying or upset, you have to be nice to her and not laugh or say mean things."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can't believe I didn't think of this until now and I don't even know if it was the same day but it's pretty crazy right?"

Anna grinned, pretty sure Steve hadn't thought of it earlier because he was too angry about what she'd said to be thinking about that kind of thing.

"Sure is," she said.

They were silent for a bit, both drinking their beer. Anna wondered if it was just a coincidence or if Steve's mom had taken in what she'd said that day and talked to her son about it later that evening. She smiled at the thought.

"I'm really sorry about what I said," she said, looking up at him, the words coming out before she had time to think about what she was saying.

Steve frowned. "What you said when?"

She looked down, wondering why she was bringing this up now. "That day at your house. All that stuff I said about your mom. I had no right to and I'm sorry."

Anna didn't know where this was coming from. What Steve had said that day had been worse, but he'd made a pretty good gesture in way of apologising. Somehow her _not_ crashing his car that day didn't seem like enough of an apology from her anymore.

Steve shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said gruffly.

Anna nodded and looked away, more silence following.

"You were right though," he said looking at her.

She looked up and saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before. She'd seen anger and frustration plenty and the strange look he'd had for a split second when she had been talking about his mom. But this was something else. Something almost warm and friendly.

"What about?" she asked.

He smiled. "She was a real nice lady."

Anna nodded. "Other than seeing her at school I only really have that one memory of her, but I believe you."

Steve nodded again. "I don't know why she went and married a loser like my dad. She could've done so much better."

Anna shrugged. "Maybe she loved him."

Steve took a drink, emptying his bottle. "Yeah, maybe."

"At least that's what I figure about my mom," she said. "That she married my dad because she loved him. I can't really see any other reason why she would have. I mean, they were together about a year before Danny was ever born."

"Do you ever hear from her?" Steve asked, looking at her.

Anna shrugged. "The occasional postcard and late birthday cards."

"But you still wish she'd come back?"

Anna took a breath, hating that she was such an open book and nodded.

"Why?"

"Well, she can't be any worse than my dad. I know she left us, and I hated her for a while afterwards, but I would rather be around her than my dad any day. At least if she came back I could live with her." She paused. "Or leave with her."

Steve looked at her, eyebrows raised. "You'd leave Tulsa to go with your mom?"

Anna nodded. "I might. I'd miss Danny and my grandpa more than anything, but if it gets me away from my old man, then yeah, maybe."

Steve just looked at her.

"Not that she'll be coming back anytime soon," she continued. "Other than the cards, I haven't really heard from her since she left; don't know why I think I ever will."

They were silent again. Anna finished off her beer and Steve lit a smoke, offering her one which she took. She didn't smoke often; only really when she was at Buck's or at a party, or if she was upset. She tried to convince herself she was doing it now to be social, not because of her mom.

"I hated my mom for a while too," Steve said, looking into the distance.

"Yeah?"

Steve just nodded. Anna didn't know if he wanted to elaborate on that or not, but she wasn't going to push it.

"Anyway," he continued. He turned to her, dropped his cigarette butt to the ground, and smirked. "You can't leave Tulsa. I'll be one friend less if you do that."

Anna laughed and thy headed back inside. "You were one friend less on Monday but you didn't seem to mind then."

* * *

**A/N:** I understand if some of you were expecting to read the actual race and I did try and write it but really, there's only so much you can write to describe driving a car, lol.

Reviews are awesome. :) Thanks to RileysMomma for being so awesome and beta-reading for me.


	16. Friends Will Be Friends

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or Friends Will Be Friends by Queen

**

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**Wednesday, March 30****th, 1966**

Steve was sitting outside at Soda's, smoking and talking, having finished tutoring Anna over an hour ago, when Two-Bit pulled up and climbed out of his car. He was frowning and his fists were clenched and he looked ready to take on anyone who pissed him off.

"Hey, buddy," Soda said. "Everything okay?"

Two-Bit slumped on the porch in front of them. "Me and Kathy broke up."

Steve fought the urge to roll his eyes. Two-Bit and Kathy broke up as often as Dally and Sylvia so this was hardly surprising. Two-Bit being upset over it was a little different though. Usually the break up was due to his flirting with other girls and he usually saw the break up as a reason to flirt even more.

"What happened?" Soda asked.

"She dumped me." Two-Bit let out a huff of air and Steve could smell that he'd already been drinking.

"For the same reasons she dumps you every other time?" Steve asked.

"Hey now," Two-Bit said, holding up a hand, "sometimes I dump her too."

Steve smirked. "So you broke up with her?"

"No." Two-Bit frowned. "She broke up with me. Apparently, if it's okay for me to flirt with other girls and to break up with her to date other girls, it's okay for her to break up with me to date other guys."

Steve and Sodapop shared a look.

"Hate to tell ya, buddy, but that is kinda fair," Soda said.

"Well, yeah, but she ain't ever wanted to before."

Steve lit up a smoke and handed it to Two-Bit, secretly hoping that Kathy wanting to date someone else might make his friend realise what a great girl he'd had. To begin with he'd kind of been against Two-Bit and Kathy getting together for the simple reason of her being Anna's best friend. It hadn't taken long for Steve to see that Kathy was good for Two-Bit and not as much of a pain in the ass as Anna had been.

"Maybe this will be good for you guys," Soda said.

"How could this possibly be good?"

Soda looked at Steve for help.

"Well," Steve said, thinking fast. "Who knows; maybe once she's been on a date with some other guy she'll realise what a mistake she made and that she only wants to date you."

"Yeah!" Soda agreed.

Two-Bit looked at the both of them for a moment. "You guys are nuts," he said, standing up. "Ain't no way that'll happen. But it's okay, I think I remember Bolton mentioning something about a poker game tonight. See y'all tomorrow."

Steve and Soda nodded their goodbyes and watched Two-Bit drive off.

"Think Kathy'll take him back?" Soda asked.

Steve shrugged. "She usually does."

Soda looked at him. "Think Evie's coming 'round to the idea of takin' you back?"

"I dunno," Steve said and lit himself another smoke, feeling a bit restless. Soda was his best buddy and all, but they tended to avoid talking about girls if it included feelings. "Anna seems to think she still seems interested in … something."

"Something with you?"

Steve shrugged again. "All I know is what Anna tells me."

He hated that he had to get all his information from Anna, and that she didn't have nearly as much information as he wanted, but he knew without her, he'd know nothing.

"That's better than nothing right?" Soda asked, voicing what Steve had been thinking.

Steve nodded. "Better than nothing," he agreed.

XXXXX

After spending a couple of hours being tutored by Steve, then an hour consoling the heartbroken Kathy, Anna hadn't made it home until close to nine at night and had been home all of five minutes when her dad arrived. She'd had time to chuck her books in her bedroom and have a glass of water when she heard his car pull into the driveway and the car door slam. She considered sneaking off to her room before he made it inside, but Danny had left the kitchen a pig sty and someone had to clean it up.

Taking a determined breath, she began picking up a couple of beer bottles that had been left on the dinner table and piled them in the full trash can as her dad walked in to the house. She pretended to be too busy to notice him but kept her ears firmly fixed on the sound of his movements.

He'd been extra bad lately. He hadn't grabbed her again but his yelling was becoming more frequent and even when it wasn't directed at her she still hated being around when it happened.

She heard him shut the door behind him, hang his coat on the hook by the door and take off his boots before he made his way further into the house. Anna wondered what the chances of him going straight to the shower or living room were but knew they were slim. Not only were her chances with her dad always pretty slim but he always came into the kitchen to grab a beer as soon as he got home.

And this time was no different.

"Oh, hey, Dad," she said brightly as he stopped in the doorway to the kitchen.

"What the hell is all this mess?" he asked immediately.

Anna shrugged. "I'm not actually too sure," she said, looking around. "I'm guessing maybe Danny and Tim were here and forgot to clean up after themselves."

"This is unacceptable." Stan's voice was rising.

"I know, but I'll clean it up, don't worry."

"You bet your ass you're gonna clean this up. It's bad enough you're trying to blame your brother for this, but I ain't about to let ya get out of cleaning it up by blaming him!" Stan yelled, walking closer.

Anna knew she should keep her mouth shut but she was angry. Not so much at her dad, she expected this sort of treatment from him, but at Danny. He knew how their dad was toward her and _must_ have known she'd get blamed for this mess should their dad see it.

"I ain't trying to get out of tidying it!" she said, moving forward. "And I'm blaming Danny because it's his mess!"

"Bullshit!" Stan said, looking around the kitchen. "Danny don't eat banana cake and I know you do."

Anna looked at the half eaten piece of banana cake and silently cursed Tim Shepard.

"Tim eats it," she defended but he pretended that he hadn't heard her.

"And is that my beer?" Anna felt her heart sink as she looked at the bottles showing out of the top of the trash can her dad was walking toward. She knew Danny wouldn't have been stupid enough to drink their dad's beer but it was the same brand and their dad would assume the worst.

"You drank my fucking beer," he screamed at her, holding one of the empty bottles loosely in his hand. "You little bitch!"

"I didn't, I swear."

"Liar!" Anna ducked as the bottle flew over her head and smashed against the wall behind her. She glanced at it quickly, pieces of glass all over the floor, before looking back at her dad, eyes wide.

"I'm not lying," she said in a low voice.

"You're too much like your mother for yer own damn good," Stan said walking toward her. "I know you lie to me all the time, just like she used to. And she was terrible at keeping the house clean, just like you."

Anna didn't say anything, just stood straighter and lifted her head that little bit higher.

"She used to steal my booze too, just like you," he continued, stopping a few feet away from her. He stared at her for a minute before sneering. "And don't you think I've forgotten about that boy you were with the other day."

He shook his head and Anna's stomach clenched. Neither she nor her dad had mentioned anything about what had happened last week.

"Going 'round with your cousin's ex-boyfriend," he sneered. "You're a dirty little slut, just like your mother."

Anna sucked in a breath and said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's no fucking wonder she left you."

His hand moved so fast she didn't see it until it was right against her face and swinging away. She stumbled, her vision blurred and her hand flew to her face but she refused to fall. She also refused to believe that the tears stinging her eyes were from the pain, deciding they were just from the shock. He'd hit her. If it weren't for the pain on her cheek and the wetness on her fingertips she wouldn't have believed it.

Pulling her hand away, she saw the blood and realised it must have come from his wedding ring. He'd backhanded her across her left cheek, leaving a nice gash to show his achievement.

She blinked at the blood then, not bothering to look back and see if he was looking pleased with himself, regretful, or as if he didn't give a shit either way, she headed for the front door, slamming it shut behind her.

The moment she knew she was out of sight from any of the windows in the house she began to run.

XXXXX

Steve sat on the couch on his front porch, smoking and feeling pretty calm about things. He'd left Soda's about ten minutes ago only to come home and find his dad in his chair in a pretty great mood.

Steve didn't know if it was because of the half empty bottle of bourbon sitting next to the chair or because it was payday, but his dad's good moods usually lasted a while even if they were because of the alcohol, and Steve was sure he would be happily spending the night in his own bed.

He slouched a bit lower on the couch, hearing his dad's laughter at whatever stupid late night comedy he was watching. Taking another drag on his cigarette he watched the red embers glow, enjoying the rare quietness in the neighbourhood.

It was only seconds later he heard running footsteps heading in his direction. He sat up slightly, wondering if it was Johnny needing a place to stay or just some idiot. A frown crept onto his face as the figure came into view, slowing down outside his house.

Steve stood up, flicked away his smoke and slowly made his way down the steps towards Anna who was beginning down the walkway.

"What happened?" he asked immediately. There was no reason for her to be there at that time of the night unless something had happened.

She looked up at him and all he saw was the angry red mark on her cheek. "You said I could come to you," she said, looking hesitant.

Steve hardly heard her, though. There was a strange humming noise in his ears and he could feel his fists clenching. He had a fair idea of what had happened and it made him furious. You just didn't hit girls.

He looked away from the cut and into her eyes. She looked tired and worried that he was going to tell her to leave.

"C'mon," he murmured, taking her hand and leading her to the porch where he stopped short. "Listen, my dad's inside, you wanna wait here a minute? I'll get something to clean that up."

She nodded and sat on the porch to wait while he walked inside.

Steve walked quickly into his bedroom, grabbing a bottle of whiskey he kept under his bed before going into the kitchen and grabbing a couple of clean cloths, wrapping some ice in one of them. He wouldn't have bothered with the ice had it been one of the guys, but he knew how girls were about their looks.

That thought made him angrier. Anna may very well be left with a scar on her cheek thanks to that bastard. Steve so badly wanted to go over to Anna's place and knock the shit outta her old man. He didn't care that he used to hate her and that they'd only just become friends or how big her dad was. You just didn't hit girls.

He couldn't do that though, not yet at least. He'd told Anna she could come to him if things got bad. When he'd said it he'd never figured she'd actually do it, but things had obviously gotten so bad that she'd needed to get away. The gash on her face was evidence enough of that. And right now Anna needed more than just a place to hang out for a while, she needed … well Steve wasn't an expert on what a girl who'd just been hit by her dad would need but he figured it wasn't to be left alone for too long.

With that in mind, Steve started to make his way back outside, only to be stopped short by his own dad's voice.

"Everything alright out there, son?"

Steve turned towards his dad and decided that, with a full bottle of whiskey in his hand and the pleasant mood his dad seemed to be in, that honestly was the best policy.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Just a friend came by; she's having a bit of trouble with her dad."

John nodded and turned back to the television. He seemed not to mind Johnny crashing when he was having trouble with his parents even though he was kicking Steve out every other week.

Steve ignored that thought and continued outside, finding Anna sitting on the porch steps with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Here," he said, handing her the bottle and sitting next to her. She took it and looked at it strangely. "Have some; it'll help your nerves."

"Right," she said and took a swig, grimacing at the taste. "Don't s'pose you got any rum in there somewhere?"

Steve grinned a little; she was a pretty tough chick.

"Na," he said and took the bottle off of her, dropping the ice next to him. "This is all I got for cleaning your cut too."

Anna nodded. "That's okay."

Steve poured some of the whiskey onto one of the cloths before handing it back to her. Then, with more care than he ever thought he'd use on Anna Harris, he placed his free hand on her good cheek to hold her in place and held the cloth near her cut.

"This is gonna sting, you might want another drink," he said, indicating to the whiskey she had placed at her feet. She hadn't had any more since her first mouthful.

"It's fine," she said, "I don't wanna go drinking all your precious whiskey."

Steve smirked and pressed the cloth against her cut. She hissed a little at the sting and winced but didn't pull away. Steve began wiping away the blood and cleaning the cut the way he'd had to do to himself so many times before.

"Thanks," Anna said when he was finished.

Steve nodded and smoothly replaced the cloth with the one that held the ice. "Hold that on it for a while and it shouldn't swell too much."

Anna just nodded and took a hold of the cloth wrapped ice while Steve dug into his jeans pocket and grabbed out his smokes and a lighter. Watching her, Steve noticed her hands were shaking and realised she was more shaken up than she wanted him to know.

Frowning a little, he pulled out one of his smokes and went to put the pack away before thinking better of it. Opening it back up, he grabbed out another and lit the both of them.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" he asked, making sure there was a 'this is not a question you can say no to' tone to his voice, and handing her one of the smokes.

Anna gratefully took the smoke from him. "I'm not really sure," she said. "I went to see Kathy after we finished here; you know her and Two-Bit broke up again?"

Steve nodded.

"Anyway, no one was home when I got there, but the place was a mess. Dishes and food and empty beer bottles all throughout the kitchen; left, of course, by Danny and Tim."

She took another drag on her smoke and sighed.

"So I start cleaning up their mess whenI hear my dad arrive, knowing I'm gonna get the blame for everything. And I do." Anna rolled her eyes. "Danny knows exactly how Dad is with me and knew I would get blamed for it, but he left it there anyway. He just left it there knowing I'd get blamed."

Steve silently cursed her damn brother. The guy knew she loved him more than anything but not only was he not around often enough to look out for her, but in a way he was to blame for the cut on her cheek. He had a feeling Anna might have been more upset about that fact than what had happened with her dad.

Anna took another drag off her cigarette. "Anyway, I tried to tell him it was Danny's mess but that I would clean it anyway but he decided I was just blaming Danny and it was all my mess and I had stolen his alcohol. He started on about how I was so much like my mom; a liar and bad cleaner and then he said …"

Anna flicked her cigarette butt away and took a breath. "He sad I was a dirty little slut, just like my mother."

Steve muttered a curse, before asking, "What did you do?"

Anna looked at him and Steve saw defiance in her eyes along with something else that looked a little like pride.

"I told him it was no wonder she left him."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her bravery and stupidity. "And then he hit you?"

"Yeah."

"Shit, Anna."

"I know," she said. "Kinda stupid but he deserved it."

Steve sighed and ran his hand over his knuckles. The only thing he had to say to that was more curse words. He was silent for a minute.

"Look, you wanna crash here tonight?"

"Na," Anna gave him a small grin and waved him off with her hand. "I just needed to get away. I'll climb back in through my window and push the chair against the door like I do every other time."

"You can't go back there," Steve said indignantly.

"Why not? Because my dad hit me? He'll be passed out on the couch by the time I get home and probably won't even remember it tomorrow," Anna said.

"Yeah, but-"

"I gotta go home eventually don't I?" she said. "No point in putting off the inevitable."

"I ain't about to let you go back there," he said with a scowl.

"Whaddya gonna do? Keep me here?"

Steve glared at her. She had a point. "You're one stubborn little bitch ya know that?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I ain't gonna argue with you, Steve. I've had enough fighting for one night and I came here to get away from that."

Steve continued to glare but gave it a rest. He understood why she was going home. Hell, he'd had this conversation with Soda a few times himself. Home was home. Whether it was because it felt like or home or because it was the only place you had, it was still home.

They stayed silent for a few more moments until Anna picked the bottle of whiskey back up and took another mouthful. Steve noticed her hands were still shaking and rolled his eyes when she grimaced at the taste again before offering the bottle to him. He took a swig and set the bottle back between them.

"You okay?" he asked softly after a few more minutes of silence.

She looked at him and Steve stared back. He could see that she wasn't really okay but she kept her cool and he was glad. He did alright with crying girls but he never liked it.

"I'm okay," she said and smiled at him.

"Let me see this now," he said, and pulled both her hand and the ice away from her face.

He saw her wince again as the cloth came away, sticking a little to her cut where it had been bleeding while being iced. Dropping the ice, he grabbed the other cloth and the whiskey again.

"I'll just clean it again," he said quickly, "it bled a little more."

He placed his free hand back on Anna's unhurt cheek and began cleaning the wound again. As soon as the cloth touched her cheek she pulled away.

"Hurts more now than before," she said grudgingly.

"That'll be the shock wearin' off," Steve said and ran his thumb under her chin to the other side of her jaw to hold her in place. A sudden and unexpected thought ran through his head as he did it of just how fucking soft her skin was.

Steve paused, the cloth an inch from her cut. Where the hell had that come from?

Anna turned as much as his hand would allow and looked at him outta the corner of her eye. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he breathed and began cleaning her cut.

The sudden thought of her soft skin had sent Steve a little crazy. All he could feel under his left hand was the silkiness of her cheek and it made him almost desperate to touch more of it. He wanted to let his eyes and hands wander over her, to see if the skin looked as soft as it felt and felt as soft everywhere else as it did on her cheek.

He kept his eyes firmly on the gash as he quickly finished re-cleaning it, before dropping the cloth, not taking his hand away from her cheek. Now that he had finished he could let his eyes wander, away from the drying blood, down the rest of her reddening cheek to her smooth looking lips.

He carefully moved his thumb from under her chin back to her good cheek, slowly running it back and forth along the soft skin. It wasn't until he saw her lips open and heard a breathy sigh exit them that he realised how badly he wanted to kiss her.

Using the hand on the side of her face, he turned her to face him and looked at her through hooded eyes. Her lips were still parted, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes looked cloudy.

Steve slowly began to lean in to close the small gap between them, his heart lurching a little when she lifted her own face up to meet him. He could feel her warm breath against his neck and it sent a tiny shiver down his spine. Continuing to stroke her cheek with his thumb, he moved the rest of his hand a tiny bit, threading the tip of his fingers into the hair at her temple and tilting her head up a little more.

All he really wanted to do was crush her lips against his own, but everything seemed to be going in slow motion. All he could do was keep his eyes on hers and keep moving forward.

His eyes flicked quickly away from hers and down to her mouth as her pink little tongue slipped out, nervously licking her lips. Steve had to fight back a groan at the sight that caused his blood to rush southward and his jeans to tighten.

He swallowed. He'd had enough of this slow motion bullshit. Threading his fingers further into her hair, he pulled her in as close as he could without touching her lips. His mouth a hairsbreadth away from her own, their warm breath mixing between them, he softly whispered her name.

A crash came from the road right in front of them, causing both Steve and Anna to pull away with surprise. Steve could see the shock, confusion and apprehension in Anna's eyes as they flickered from him to the road. He felt no shock or confusion, just damn frustration.

After a moment he finally turned to see what had interrupted them and what Anna kept looking at. Steve rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to hit his friend. Two-Bit was stumbling up the footpath towards the walkway, more than a little shit faced and having driven his car into the trash cans at the end of the path.

"Hey, buddy," he said cheerfully, apparently having only just noticed his friend sitting on the porch and seeming to be much cheerier now than he had been earlier that day.

"Whaddya doin here, Two-Bit?" Steve growled.

He could see Anna fidgeting next to him.

"Oh ya know," Two-Bit said with a wave of his hand. "Just needed a place to - Anna? That you?"

Anna stood up quickly, rubbing her palms on her skirt and eyes still flicking nervously from Steve to Two-Bit. Steve kept his eyes blank as he looked back at her, resisting the urge to ask her to stay.

"Yeah," she said, "but uh, I was just leaving." She walked hurriedly down the porch and across the lawn. "See y'all tomorrow."

Steve smirked a little as her footsteps became quicker the moment she was out of sight.

"You mind if I crash out here, man?" Two-Bit asked, the walk to the porch seeming to have worn his chatter away.

Steve sighed. "Sure, Two-Bit, just keep it down."

Two-Bit nodded and climbed the steps. Not a minute later, Steve heard loud snores coming from the outside couch. Leaning against the railing next to him, he wondered what the hell had just happened.

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**A/N:** Ooohhhh ;)

Feedback is very much appreciated, I love hearing what you guys think! Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading and thanks to those of you who are reviewing.


	17. Hazy Cosmic Jive

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or the lyrics to 'Starman' by David Bowie that I have used in the chapter ttile.

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**Thursday, March 31****st, 1966**

Anna leaned against the lockers opposite her math classroom, worrying her lower lip and frowning slightly. She hadn't been this adamant about not going to math since she had begun her tutoring but the idea of walking into that classroom now, well, she didn't like it one bit. In fact she desperately wanted to just turn in the other direction and leave the whole damn school behind her.

And for once she knew for certain that Danny wouldn't mind too much if she did skip. She had been more than grateful when she had arrived home last night to find her dad's car gone and her brother's in the driveway. The guilt and remorse on his face the moment he got sight of her was something she'd been rather glad to see because, as far as she was concerned, he should feel guilty.

She'd wanted to yell at him and tell him exactly what his leaving his mess had caused to happen, but he'd known straight away and she'd been too confused by everything that had happened to bother starting on him. Instead, she had grudgingly accepted his apologies and promises to not leave her alone in the house when their dad was in one of his moods and gone straight into the bathroom for a hot shower.

Now as she stood outside the math class in which Steve was sitting, with an angry gash and growing bruise on her cheekbone that had been stared at a few times, she wondered if she should have taken Danny up on his offer to skip school that day to hang out with Grandpa Joe. She was sure it would have been better than being at school, dealing with the staring, Steve, and Two-Bit demanding to know who had hit her. But she needed to be at school. She needed to go to math. She even kind of needed the distraction of sorting out what had happened with Steve to take her mind off of her dad hitting her.

Even still, the idea of facing Steve after what had happened between them last night was not an appealing one. Though _technically _nothing had happened, in reality they had almost kissed. Hell, his hand had been practically buried in her hair and she had been impatient and rearing to go.

He had been about to kiss her and she had wanted him to - badly.

The feel of his calloused fingers on her cheek had turned her to mush. His warm breath on her skin had sent shivers down her spine. The look in his eyes - eyes she was so used to seeing angry or frustrated - had just about killed her in the best possible way.

They had been dark with desire; desire for her. Steve had looked at her with want, with need, and Anna had become desperate for him to kiss her.

She remembered stopping to lean on a lamp post to catch her breath as she ran home last night and damning Two-Bit for showing up when he did. It had only taken her a split second to realise she should be damned grateful to Two-Bit. If he hadn't shown up when he did then she and Steve would have kissed, they would have made out on his front porch, they would have …

She stopped her thoughts from going any further. With a blush making its way up her cheeks and her frown deepening, she silently thanked Two-Bit again. As good as the idea had seemed at the time, it would not have been good.

Anna watched a couple of Socs glare at her before walking into the math class. She knew she didn't have much time until the last bell. She had more than dawdled there after Science to avoid seeing Steve until the last minute, knowing he would already be in the classroom by the time she arrived, but she couldn't avoid him forever.

As if on cue, the final bell rang and Anna stood straight. Her fingers fluttered to the cut on her cheek and, taking a breath and pushing her hair away from her face, she made her way into the stifling classroom.

She glanced at Steve as she made her way towards their table and couldn't help but curse how calm and cool he looked as he sat there, glanced up at her and away again, as if he wasn't at all affected by what had almost happened. She hated to admit it, but Anna _was_ affected by what had almost happened.

"Hey," she said in a low voice as she sat in her seat and Mr. Chase began the roll call.

Steve glanced at her. "Hey."

Anna bit her lip again and looked at him for a moment before turning away and holding up her hand when Mr. Chase called her name.

It was a mistake, of course. The possibility of her and Steve kissing was just wrong and weird and all those other negative words that meant it should not be repeated, and she desperately hoped they could just forget it had ever happened.

She was sure he felt the same. The want and need that had filled his eyes as he'd leaned toward her had left so quickly after they had broken apart, only to be replaced by the calm look of nonchalance he often wore combined with a tiny bit of frustration, that she was positive he'd already been over it.

She didn't want it to ruin all the progress they had made; she didn't want things to be weird between them just because of one little mistake but so far it seemed like things might be heading that way. Anna sighed quietly began copying what Mr. Chase was writing on the board, silently cursing everything that had happened last night.

XXXXX

Steve felt the same surge of anger he'd felt the night before as he glanced up at Anna. The cut on her cheek was still an angry red and looked fairly painful. He vaguely wondered if Danny had seen it yet and if he knew that he was to blame for it. He hoped he had and he hoped the guy felt real shitty about it.

Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, he was glad to be sitting on her right and unable to see the cut, but still felt a little weird about sitting next to her at all.

He'd almost kissed her. He had _wanted_ to kiss her and was pretty damn sure she had wanted him to kiss her. Thinking about it now was strange, but last night it was all he had wanted; so much so he'd had to remember that punching Two-Bit in the face for interrupting them was not a good idea.

He didn't even know why he'd done it, but figured that with everything that had just happened with her dad … well, he just didn't know but reckoned that must have had something to do with it.

Of course once he'd managed to calm himself down, and not just his anger at Two-Bit, he'd quickly realised just what a mistake he had been about to make.

Kissing Anna was not something he needed or wanted to be doing. Not only would it ruin any possible progress he'd made with Evie, but it would make things weird between him and Anna and now that they were finally getting along, that was the last thing he wanted.

But she had been so nervous and jittery when Two-bit had made his way up to them and when she had left it made him wonder. He was almost positive she didn't like him in that way; he _knew_ he didn't like her in that way, and he was sure that she knew it was just a slip-up, but the way she had taken off had had him wondering if she was going to start acting weird around him.

Mr. Chase started handing out worksheets and Steve wanted to curse him aloud for allowing them to work in pairs. As chatter broke out throughout the classroom he saw Anna turn towards him.

He decided there was no need to ignore her, plus he wanted to make sure she her cut wasn't causing her too much trouble.

"How's your cut doin'?" he asked before she managed to say anything.

Her fingers flew to her face and gently touched the cut. "It's okay," she said. "A bit sore, but nothin' I can't handle."

Steve nodded and they each took a worksheet from Mr. Chase.

"I never got to thank you," she said, still staring at him.

He shrugged. "You don't gotta thank me for that."

"Yeah, I do. I was a bit of a wreck last night and you were real good about things."

Steve shrugged again, and glanced at her. "No big deal. Do you need any help on these?"

She glanced at the worksheets he was pointing to and frowned. "No, I don't think so."

Steve nodded and turned back to his own worksheet. "Just let me know if you do."

He could feel Anna scrutinizing him with narrowed eyes but ignored her. He wasn't used to this. Kissing, or almost kissing someone you weren't meant to was Dally or Two-Bit's forte, not his. He kissed girls he liked; girls who liked him back … girls who weren't the cousin of the girl he was trying to get back together with.

Girls who weren't Anna.

And when she was a staring at him like that, as if trying to work out exactly what he was thinking, well, it made him a bit nervous. He couldn't remember a time when Anna had looked at him like that and wasn't sure if her doing it now was good or bad.

He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

"Steve." Her voice was so low that he was able to pretend he hadn't heard her.

_What the fuck?_ He shouldn't be avoiding whatever she wanted to say to him; for all he knew she just wanted help with her math work. He had a feeling it was more than that, though.

"Steve." Her voice was insistent this time and he turned to look at her.

He could see the sore looking gash on her cheek; she was frowning particularly hard and looking as though she were trying to chew off her own lower lip but Steve suddenly realised something he figured he'd known all along. Anna was cute; real cute, and definitely kissable. But that didn't mean he liked her and should be trying to kiss her.

"I think we need to talk," she said, voice low again.

Steve ran a hand through his hair, looked down at the table and sighed.

"I think," Anna went on, ignoring his discomfort, "that we need to talk about last night."

"Look," he said, figuring it was best of he just said his part and got it out in the open. "I think that we both just need to accept that what happened, what _almost_ happened, last night was a mistake."

She raised her eyebrows, looking surprised but relieved.

"A mistake," she repeated.

"Don't you agree?"

She grinned. "Yeah, yeah I agree."

Comforted by her agreement, he decided it was safe to continue.

"I don't even know what happened," he said, feeling a bit more relaxed. "But you were upset about your dad, and I guess -"

"You were bein' nice and trying to comfort me," she finished off.

Steve raised an eyebrow. That sounded about right. "Yeah, right."

She nodded. "And, bein' upset, I was ready to let ya."

"Yeah," Steve nodded in agreement.

"It was just one of those impulsive things that happen sometimes."

Steve nodded again and Anna grinned.

"We'll just blame it on all the emotion of the night," she said in a teasing tone.

Steve smirked. "Sounds good."

They both went back to their worksheets, staying quiet for a few minutes. Steve frowned a little, noticing that, though they had cleared the air, the silence still seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Steve," Anna said again.

He looked at her, waiting.

"We're good, right?" she asked.

Steve chuckled, but it was forced. "Yeah, we're good."

XXXXX

Despite the agreement of it being a mistake and the promise of everything being good between them, things were still a little strange, for Anna at least.

They hadn't talked much during the rest of their shared class, only when Anna had needed help on one of her equations, but as they walked outside at lunch time it had been … different.

Anna didn't know what it was, or if she was imagining it but she decided it had something to do with Evie. So far her cousin hadn't shown a whole bunch of interest in getting back together with Steve, but he was still her ex-boyfriend. Steve was Anna's cousin's ex-boyfriend and they had almost kissed.

Anna actually felt guilty about it. Whether it was because Evie may very well end up wanting Steve back or because she knew how much Steve wanted Evie back, Anna felt bad about it.

As they reached the parking lot, Anna saw Evie standing against the wall of the school with Sylvia and Ricky Bolton and made an impromptu decision. She grabbed Steve's arm to stop him, but quickly let it go when he turned to look at her, his gaze flying from hers to the hand resting on his arm.

She dropped her hand to her side, feeling stupid and annoyed. She'd grabbed his arm to catch up to him and even shoved his shoulder playfully plenty over they last week or so. Hell, he'd held her hand on two separate occasions to help her out. But her hand on his leather covered arm was suddenly out of the question?

So she wasn't imagining things and Steve was still feeling strange too, despite their agreement.

"Um, I'm gonna go talk to Evie about maybe spending a couple of nights at her house," she said, forcing a quick grin. "If you see Kathy, tell her to come find me? I don't want her cornered by Two-Bit."

Steve nodded. "Sure."

Anna turned away and headed toward Evie, pushing all guilty thoughts and annoyance at Steve out of her head.

"Hey," she called as she reached them.

"Anna," Ricky smirked at her as she approached. "Nice cut."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Ricky," she said, "how's the nose?"

Ricky glared at her and walked off. He'd never forgiven her or Danny for his broken nose. Unlike Tim Shepard, whose broken nose was sexy and gave him character, Ricky's simply looked crooked and ugly.

"What the hell happened to you?" Evie asked, coming forward.

Anna smiled and gingerly touched the side of her face. "Do you think we could talk?" she asked, glancing at Sylvia. "Just the two of us?"

Evie nodded. "Of course."

They walked around the side of the school, leaving Sylvia to chat with some boys, and sat against the ledge that ran around the school.

"What happened?" Evie asked again.

Anna took a breath and began telling Evie what had happened last night. She told her about her fight with her dad, the way he had hit her and how good Steve had been about things. She told her about everything except the almost kiss; Evie didn't need to know about that.

"Shit!" Evie said when Anna had finished.

"Yeah. But don't go sayin' anything okay? You know how your mom is when it comes to my dad."

Evie nodded. "I won't say a word. And I can't believe how good Steve was to you."

"Yeah, well, we're friends now remember?" Anna forced a laugh as an idea struck. "That is, he was being real good until he started going on about some blonde who keeps going to see him at work."

"What?" Evie sounded so scandalised that Anna had to fight back a grin.

"Uh-huh." Anna continued casually. "Apparently she's been going in there almost every day he works for the last couple of weeks and flirting with him all the time."

"Who is she?"

Anna shrugged. "He didn't tell me her name but mentioned that he's thinking of asking her out."

"He is?"

Anna nodded and almost felt bad about how put out Evie sounded. "Yeah."

"Oh."

"You sound a little disappointed."

Evie shrugged. "Turns out not being in a relationship and dating whoever I please isn't as fun as I thought it would be."

Anna nodded understandingly.

"Plus," Evie continued, glancing at Anna out of the corner of her eye, "with all this good stuff you've been saying about Steve these last few weeks, well it's made me wonder ya know? I mean, if even you think he's a nice guy, what kind of mistake did I make by breaking up with him?"

Anna smiled to herself, remembering saying something very similar to Steve over a month ago when she had been trying to convince him to tutor her.

XXXXX

Steve had finished working on the Caddy in the garage and was leaning against the counter in the front store, drinking a Coke when Evie walked in. He glanced at her and stood up straight, quickly taking in her tight blouse and short skirt, before looking away and taking a drink of his Coke.

Anna had told him about her conversation with Evie, and though Steve hadn't been sure that the lie about the blonde would work, Anna had been positive. To be honest, Steve had just been so glad that things had seemed normal between them again that he hadn't bothered to make a fuss about the lie not working.

Things had still been weird after math, even though they'd agreed not to make things weird. Steve knew he was just as much to blame for the weirdness as Anna, especially after the way he'd acted when she'd touched his arm. He had kicked himself for it almost right away. He and Anna were friends and had casually touched each other like that plenty. He'd made a big deal out of nothing.

So when she'd been grinning like an idiot and almost teasing him about Evie again at the end of lunch, Steve had just taken it in stride, too glad that things were normal again to worry about a lie that they could both be caught out on.

"Hey, Steve," Evie practically purred as she leaned on the counter in front of him, giving him a perfect view down her blouse.

Steve kept his face blank, refusing to be sucked in without making her work a little first.

"Evie."

"How you been?" she asked.

He nodded. "Pretty good, you?"

"Not bad." She paused and lowered her eyes. "I've missed you though."

"You have, huh?"

She looked up at him through her lashes and Steve swallowed hard at the look she was giving him.

"Yeah, I really have."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Steve murmured.

Evie smiled. "Perhaps we could go out this weekend?"

Steve took a drink and pretended to consider.

"Ya know," she continued with a half shrug, "just to see what happens."

Steve nodded. "I suppose we could."

Evie beamed. "You'll pick me up on Saturday?"

"I'll pick you up on Saturday," he agreed.

She nodded. "Perfect."

Steve watched her walk out of the store feeling rather pleased with himself and unable to take his eyes off of her legs.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading and thanks to all those who have been reviewing!


	18. Ironic

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette.

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**Saturday, April 2nd, 1966**

"So, what time's your date?" Anna asked while she waited for Soda to fill up Danny's car.

"Seven," Steve said.

Anna watched him with narrowed eyes as they spoke. He seemed normal enough; he was talking to her normal enough and acting normal enough around her. In fact, they were both acting pretty damn normal, but she still felt weird.

"And where are you taking her?"

Steve scratched the back of his head. "Nowhere special; Evie said she just wants to go to a movie then get something to eat. She's got a curfew of eleven 'cause she stayed out late last weekend."

Anna smirked. "I s'pose that's the downside of having two parents at home."

"Probably," Steve said throwing her a quick grin before serving a couple of kids who wanted Cokes.

Anna watched him, wondering what the hell her problem was. Things had been good between them on Thursday afternoon after her talk with Evie, but as soon as math had rolled around yesterday, she had started feeling a little awkward again.

She didn't exactly know why but assumed she was still feeling weird about that almost kiss. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't a big deal. It had been a slip-up and there was no need to be worrying about it anymore. They'd talked about it and sorted it out.

"Hey." Fingers snapped in front of her face and she looked up at Steve. "You awake in there?"

She rolled her eyes at him and forced a smirk.

"God, look at you," she said in fake disgust. "How do you plan on playing it cool tonight if you can't keep that stupid grin off your face?"

Steve snorted. "You're one to talk," he said. "Every day I have to put up with your idiot grin and usually for no reason at all."

"I'm a cheerful person, so sue me."

"Cheerful? And here I thought you were just doin' your best to annoy me." Steve gave her a grin and raised one eyebrow before frowning at something over her shoulder. Anna turned to find Danny walking toward them.

"Hey, Randle," Danny said, handing over the money for the gas.

"Harris." Steve gave a curt nod, put the money in the till and fixed Danny with a glare.

Anna frowned and looked back at Danny who raised an eyebrow at Steve's obvious irritation. She glanced between the two of them for a few moments; Steve's glare getting nastier by the second and Danny's raised eyebrow turning into an amused frown. Glad there were no other customers in the store and that Sodapop and the other guys working were all outside or in the garage, Anna cleared her throat.

"I'll be in the car," Danny told her with a grin and left the store.

"What the hell was that?" she asked Steve who was still glaring out the window at Danny.

"What was what?"

"What was with you glaring at my brother like that?"

Steve scowled at her. "Your dad hittin' you the other night was partly his fault ya know."

She ignored the mention of her dad, having pushed the whole thing to the back of her mind and decided to forget about what had happened. He was leaving her alone now and that was all that mattered.

"Well yeah, in a way I suppose it was. But he's apologised more than once so you don't need to go getting all macho about it," she replied with a hint of annoyance to her voice.

She wasn't really annoyed, though; she just hated that Steve had brought Wednesday night up. Not only did it remind her that her dad, who she hadn't seen since then due to him working nights, had hit her, but it made her feel weird again just when their conversation was returning to normal.

"I ain't getting all macho about nothin'," Steve said, crossing his arms on his chest. "I just don't think it's cool for him to act like nothing happened after how upset you were."

Anna sighed, wondering if this was Steve being a jerk and trying to start a fight with her brother or if this was Steve trying to be nice and in his own way saying that he hadn't forgiven Danny even if she had.

She figured she was way off but decided to go with the latter.

"He ain't acting like nothing happened. He still feels real bad," she said, "and I ain't exactly tryin' to make him feel any better."

"Good."

"In fact," she continued, "he's real grateful to you for helpin' me out the way you did."

Anna wished the words back as soon as she'd said them. Steve just nodded, looking pleased, while she felt even more uncomfortable than she had during their entire conversation that day, just because she'd brought up something that related to their almost kiss.

Rubbing her forehead, she mentally told her self to stop being so silly and get over the awkwardness already.

"I think you're bein' waited on."

Anna looked up at Steve who was looking at Danny out the window. Danny was leaning against his car, talking to Soda and watching her.

"Right," she said and grinned at Steve. "Well, have a great time tonight."

He smirked back. "I will."

She turned and headed for the propped open door before turning back to him. "And don't go messing it up," she scolded. "I went to a lot of work convincing her to go back out with you."

XXXXX

Anna absentmindedly swung her legs in the air as she lay on her stomach on Kathy's bedroom floor, flipping through a _Seventeen_ magazine. Eyes glazing over as she stared at an ad for hairspray, her thoughts once again drifted back to Steve and his date with Evie.

She wondered what they were doing, if they were having a good time. She wondered if they were getting along okay and if this date meant that they were going to get back together.

Flipping a couple more pages, she thought about that for a bit and finally realised that Steve and Evie getting back together would be weird. It used to be that the two of them together was terrible for her because of her intense dislike for Steve, but now …

She frowned. Now they were friends and that made things weird. It was bad enough that for some unfathomable reason she was already feeling weird around him; if he was dating her cousin again, well, that would be more than weird. It would be _terrible_.

Her friend and her cousin dating just seemed wrong, and Anna suddenly found herself hoping their date wasn't going well at all.

She paused, mid page flip. That wasn't right. She was supposed to hope their date went well; amazing even. She had worked hard to get Evie to even consider going back out with Steve. She had lied, embellished and told Evie about her dad simply to make Steve look good. She wanted them to get back together, to be having a good time. She wanted Steve to be as gentlemanly as Steve could be, she wanted Evie to be doing that stupid giggling thing she did, she wanted them to have a great time, plan a second date and kiss goodnight.

Anna slowly sat up at the sudden heavy feeling in her chest.

"What's wrong?" Kathy asked from where she was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails.

"Nothing." Anna turned and sat with her back against the bed, flipping through the magazine too quickly for it to be casual.

The thought and ugly image of Steve kissing Evie goodnight was stuck in her head like a bad song that just wouldn't leave. She tried to get rid of it by thinking about something else. She tried to just ignore it and focus on her magazine.

It wasn't until she tried to just let it be in hopes it would eventually leave that she realised that she really hated the idea of Steve kissing Evie goodnight, or at all. Particularly when he'd been so quick to decide that _almost_ kissing her had been such a big mistake. Anna's jaw dropped at her own realisation.

She was jealous.

She was jealous that Steve was going to kiss Evie goodnight but hadn't kissed her. Of course it wasn't his fault he hadn't kissed her - damn Two-Bit - but he hadn't really wanted to either. He'd said it himself; it had been a mistake.

Anna rubbed her face in her hands. This couldn't be right. She couldn't be jealous because in order for her to be jealous she would have to _want_ Steve to have kissed her. In order for her to _want_ Steve to have kissed her she would have to like Steve. Really like Steve.

And she didn't.

They were friends, but she didn't _like_ him. He was rude, a smartass and had said way too many nasty things to her in the past. He had made spiteful comments about her looks and her so-called sex life when certain rumours had been going around about her. He'd insulted her intelligence, her driving abilities and her mother all in the last six weeks.

Bitter and cocky weren't strong enough words for him, and he had one hell of a wicked temper. He had been completely unwilling to help her with math until he found out it would help him out too. He wore too much goddamn grease in his hair and wasn't even very good-looking.

But he was smart and tough and fun and they joked with each other now. He was nice to her and kind, and at times generous. He had taken her out and let her drive his car after saying something horrible to her and hadn't said anything too terribly horrible since.

He hadn't made a big deal out of it, but he'd stood up for her - defended her honour according to Two-Bit. And he had stood up to her dad - something even Danny had yet to do.

He had held her hand, looked after her and cleaned her cut for her. He'd taken her out of town for a while to get her away from her dad and he'd told her about his mom and how things were with his own dad.

He had been there for her.

He'd shared his whiskey with her and gave her chills just by stroking her cheek. Those damn curls were some of the best hair she'd ever seen and damn it all if he wasn't sexy as hell …

"Shit."

"What's wrong?" Kathy asked again.

Anna quickly got to her feet. "Um, I have to go."

"What?" Kathy stood up too. "But I thought you were going to stay? We haven't even started complaining about Two-Bit yet."

"I know, and I'm really sorry. But I really need to go."

Kathy nodded. "Okay, well, call me tomorrow."

Anna nodded and was out the door not a minute later.

XXXXX

Steve was feeling pretty pleased with himself as he pulled away from Evie's place. Their date had gone well, and he and Evie had gotten along like a house on fire. Things weren't official but he was positive it wouldn't be more than a week before they were back together.

Though, despite that and despite the good date, Steve wasn't feeling as good about being with Evie as he thought he would have. He couldn't exactly pinpoint where the problem with it lay, simply because it lay in a few different places.

For starters there was her date with Bobby Miller that Steve couldn't stop picturing, having seen them at the football game together. Plus there were a few other guys Evie had dated in their time apart. Of course, she had never been one for sleeping around, but Steve could never be too sure.

Then there was the fact that the date, though it had been great to be back with Evie, had been kind of boring. He'd never had a problem having fun with Evie before, and they had got along really well all night, but during some of their date that night Steve had found his mind wondering aimlessly as she had chattered about things that took his interest in no way whatsoever.

If he was honest with himself, Steve was feeling a little let down by the whole situation.

After so long of wanting Evie back, he finally almost had her and it wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind. He still really liked her and wanted to be with her, but being around her hadn't been what he'd expected it to have been. He had expected to get a kick out of being with her, to be thrilled at being around her and feel satisfaction at what he had managed to get back.

Instead he felt reasonably happy and pleased with himself but hardly thrilled and satisfied. He felt as if he had been wishing for something for so long only to realise it wasn't as good as he had remembered it being.

Steve shook his head at that as he turned onto his street. He had wanted Evie back so much and for so long now that he had simply built up his expectations. He figured he just had to get used to being with someone again and it not being peaches and cream the whole time. He wanted Evie, she was his girl, and there was no way he was going to worry over a few tiny details just because their first date hadn't been perfect.

XXXXX

No, no, no, no, no. This could not be happening.

Anna pushed her hair away from her face and walked faster. It was completely dark out and she hated having to walk this far at night. Normally the furthest she had to walk was from Steve's place to her own, not even a ten minute walk.

"Shit," she said again as more thoughts of Steve entered her mind.

She did not like Steve Randle. She _could not _like Steve Randle. The universe could not possibly be that unfair. It simply wasn't possible for her to actually _like_ him. Not after everything they had said to each other and all the trouble they had caused each other. Yet, suddenly those troubles seemed so trivial, so unimportant.

All she could think about was how she hated that he was out with her cousin and not with her. About and how much she enjoyed being around him and how she wanted to be around him even more and about how good he had been to her.

She stopped mid-step. Maybe that was it. Maybe he'd just been so good to her lately that she had mistaken their growing friendship for something more on her behalf.

She looked up at the house ahead and bit her lip in wonder. Steve said Evie had had a curfew of eleven that night and the clock in the hallway at Kathy's when she'd left had read 10:28. Add a twenty minute walk from Kathy's to where she was now and it should be close to 10:50 and Steve should be home in less than twenty minutes.

Anna knew he might not appreciate her being there very much but she had to know and she knew that if she could just see him … well she hoped like hell that seeing him would make her realise just how ridiculous she was being.

Walking with slow steps the rest of the way to Steve's house, Anna was pleased to see his dad's car gone from the driveway. Sitting down on the porch steps, she waited, hoping he wouldn't be too long. Deep down she had hoped he'd already be home by now but decided to ignore that.

She didn't have a watch but figured at least half an hour had gone by and he still wasn't home. She decided that meant nothing good but didn't dwell on it too much because who cared if she liked Steve? _I mean really!_ she thought to herself. _Even if I do like him, it'll just be a stupid crush._

Steve's car finally pulled up and Anna jumped to her feet. She swallowed hard as she watched him climb out of his car and knew immediately that even if she had been wrong about really liking him, she had been spot on about how good looking he was and wondered why she'd never really realised it before. Kathy had tried to add him to their list of good looking guys at school but Anna had always refused out of the sheer dislike she had had for him. But as far as she was concerned now, he deserved to be at the very top of that list.

"Hey," he called walking towards her. "What are you doin' here? Is everything okay?"

Anna walked down the porch steps and felt her stomach drop. _Shit!_ One look at him and a few concerned words and everything she had managed to hope on her way to his house was gone.

"Yeah," she forced out. "Everything's fine."

Steve nodded. "Then what are ya doing here?"

"Oh," Anna blushed and was glad for the darkness due to how completely out of character it was for her. "I was just coming home from Kathy's and realised it wouldn't be long till you got home. Just wanted to see how it went, hope you don't mind too much. I can just go if you want …"

She decided to trail off there, knowing she was rambling, but Steve didn't seem to notice.

"It was good," he said. "Just a movie and some food, like I told you earlier, but it was pretty good."

Anna nodded and forced a grin. "And you guys are back together?"

"Well, not officially, but I don't think it'll be too long."

Her heart ached. He sounded so happy, well as happy as she had ever heard Steve sound.

"That's great," she said. "I'm really happy for you."

He grinned. "Thanks, Anna, and thanks for all your help."

Anna nodded and began heading down the path. "Sure," she said.

She heard Steve walk up the porch steps and inside and knew she was absolutely screwed. She liked Steve. She liked Steve a lot.

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**A/N:** This chapter was posted for Good Fic Day.

Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading for me and thanks to all my reviewers!


	19. Can't Get You Out Of My Head

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or the song 'Cant Get You Out Of My Head' by Kylie Minogue.

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**Monday, April 4th, 1966**

The bell in the hall rang, signalling the end of second-period, and Anna's heart just about flew out of her mouth. Now that second-period science was over she had third-period math … with Steve.

She hadn't seen him since Saturday night after his date with Evie and after realising that she did in fact like him. Not at all willing to face him for tutoring yesterday, she had pulled the ultimate feeling sick routine and had asked Danny to let Steve know that she wouldn't be turning up. Now the thought of facing Steve in math today was nerve wracking.

Her palms were disgustingly sweaty, her heart was pounding and, due to the constant tapping, Two-Bit had forcibly taken her pencil away from her and refused to give it back unless she'd actually had to write something. She couldn't help it; she was nervous, she was nauseous, she was damn near terrified.

All because she liked Steve Randle.

Anna sighed and climbed out of her seat, agreeing absently to whatever Two-Bit was saying. She shouldn't be nervous, she knew that, because really, it was just Steve. The same Steve she had know since she was six, the same Steve she had hated for so many years, the same Steve she could still remember as a scrawny twelve year old boy who had never been particularly nice but had suddenly developed a big attitude problem.

Unfortunately for Anna, that was the same Steve who every now and then would give her a real grin rather than a smirk, the same Steve who had technically given her her first kiss, the same Steve who had caused her to sigh in pleasure just from stroking her damn cheek.

Huffing out a breath, she pushed that thought from her mind and turned to Two-Bit as they left the classroom.

"Hey, you wanna skip third with me?"

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow and Anna desperately hoped he would say yes.

"You wanna skip math?" he asked.

Anna nodded.

"Why? You know you need to be in all your math classes if you wanna pass your junior year."

Anna glared at him. "Since when do you scold someone for wanting to skip class?"

"Well, you got a point there," he said with a grin, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"So you'll skip with me?"

Two-Bit nodded. "Hell yeah. I'm about bursting for a smoke in hopes that it'll cure this goddamn headache."

Anna smirked. "And by headache, you mean hangover?"

Two-Bit laughed loudly. "Not this time. Hey, you wanna head over to the grocery store?"

Anna nodded. Anything to get as far away from Steve as possible.

They made their way toward the back doors and outside, keeping well away from Anna's math classroom and Two-Bit's English class. Anna was feeling more than a little relieved that Two-Bit had agreed to cut class with her. If there was a person perfect to help take her mind off of Steve and all the problems he was unknowingly giving her, it was Two-Bit.

"So," Two-Bit began as they climbed into his car and started for the grocery store, "Kathy said much about me?"

Anna hid a grin and was glad to have something else to keep her mind busy. "Not much, no."

In truth, Kathy had talked non-stop about Two-Bit that very morning before classes started.

"Huh," Two-Bit paused for a moment. "She been on any dates yet?"

Anna bit her lip. She really wanted to say yes and hopefully make Two-Bit begin to realise what he was giving up every time he messed Kathy around, but he seemed to be coming to that realisation without extra help from her.

"No, no dates. It hasn't even been a week since the two of you broke up and she's not one to rush out and date someone as soon as she's single," she said.

Two-Bit glanced at her with a raised eyebrow and she grinned sheepishly, realising what she had just said described him pretty damn well.

"Sorry."

Two-Bit grinned. "I'm happy to ignore that last bit and concentrate on the fact that she hasn't been on any dates yet," he said. "This means I have a better chance of talking her into takin' me back."

Anna smirked, knowing that Two-Bit had every chance possible of convincing Kathy to take him back. She'd made a stand this time by saying she wanted to date other people, but Anna knew her friend would end up taking him back eventually. She always did.

"Here's something I've always wondered," he continued, "why doesn't she mind you and me hangin' out even when me and her ain't together?"

Anna smirked. "You know Kathy ain't about to stop us being friends just because the two of you keep breaking up. Of course, that could have something to do with me being willing to join in when she wants to sit and complain about you and that she knows I'll take her side if you mess up bad enough."

"Well, shit," Two-Bit grinned and pulled into the parking lot at the grocery store. "You two sit and complain about me?"

Anna laughed. "More often than you could imagine."

"Well, at least she's talking about me," he said, climbing out of the car. "Better than having her forget I exist."

Anna grinned and waited in the car while Two-Bit went inside, promising to get everything they wanted and claiming to even pay for some of it. But the moment he was gone, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to Steve.

"Damn it," she muttered, but she couldn't push the thoughts away.

She wondered what he was doing right then, before stupidly realising he was in math and was probably doing math. She wondered if he was wondering where she was or assuming she was still sick or if he knew she was skipping. Mostly she wondered if he was thinking about Evie.

She hated the idea of the two of them being back together. She tried to be happy for them. Well, for Steve at least. He had wanted to get back with Evie for so long and now he had and was happy about it. Anna wanted him to be happy and tried to find it in herself to be happy for him, despite how _un_happy she was about the whole thing.

She couldn't be happy for Evie, though. Evie was her cousin and they had once been close, but in Anna's opinion, her cousin didn't really deserve Steve. It might have been just out of jealousy that she was thinking it, but Anna thought that after the way Evie had treated Steve, she didn't really deserve to have him back.

Two-Bit opening the car door and pushing a few chocolate bars and bottles of coke into her arms pulled her mind back away from Steve. Anna was grateful.

"Jeez, how much of this did you actually pay for?" she asked him.

Two-Bit just grinned and started the car. "Chuck me one of those bars will ya?"

Anna obliged and opened one for herself.

"So," Two-Bit said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he drove. "You and Stevie have a fight?"

Anna wanted to jab a knife through her traitorous heart when it jumped at the mere mention of Steve, but decided to just frown instead. This was not like her. She had never been this silly and flustered over boys in the past. Not even when she had been with Ricky. Hell, she never even got this crazy when she saw Tim.

Startled, Anna realised that she hadn't thought about Tim in a while and that the dangerous and sexy thoughts she used to have about him weren't even coming to mind when she thought about him now. Shit.

"What makes you ask that?" she asked Two-Bit, pushing thoughts of liking Steve so much that she wasn't even thinking about Tim out of her mind.

Two-Bit shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Just you skipping out on math. Only reason I can think of is that you and Steve ain't getting along again."

Anna paused at that. A lot of people thought Two-Bit was an idiot and sometimes he let them, but every now and then he would see the logic in some things that proved just how clued in he was.

"We ain't fighting," she continued. "I'm just not in the mood for math."

"So, I didn't interrupt a big fight or nothin' the other night?"

Anna glanced at Two-Bit. She had thought he had been way too drunk to even remember her being there. The fact that he was only mentioning that he had seen her there now made her wonder just what else he had seen and was keeping to himself.

"We weren't fighting," she said cautiously.

"You sure? I might have been pretty damn soused but I know you left in a mighty big hurry."

Anna nodded, remembering exactly what they had almost been doing, and blushed. "I'm sure," she said looking out the window. "We weren't fighting."

Two-Bit smirked and pulled into the parking lot at the school. "I'm surprised," he said as they climbed out of the car and sat on the hood. "This truce you two have has lasted a lot longer than I thought it would have."

Anna nodded and climbed onto the hood of the car, Two-Bit following suit. "It is lasting rather well isn't it?" she said, watching as he lit up a smoke. "Hey, think I could bum one of those?" she asked.

Two-Bit handed her his pack of cigarettes and his lighter and started talking again as she lit her own smoke. "I was thinkin' maybe you could help me."

"Help you with what?"

"Well," he grinned at her and leaned his elbows on his knees, "you did such a good job getting Evie back with Steve, maybe you could help convince Kathy that she's meant to be with me."

Anna looked at him in surprise before laughing. "Aw Two-Bit," she said. "You make Kathy cry much too often for me to be willing to help you out."

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow. "I ain't ever made Kathy cry," he said. "I've made her angry plenty, and sure, maybe a little sad. But I ain't ever made her cry."

Anna stayed silent and looked away, taking a drag of her smoke. She felt really guilty for spilling something Kathy had obviously tried to keep from Two-Bit every time they broke up and wondered how angry Kathy would be when she found out.

"She really cries?" Two-Bit asked, staring at her incredulously.

Anna glanced at him. "She has."

"Because of me?" Two-Bit looked as though he just didn't understand how on earth he could cause Kathy to cry.

"On occasion."

They stayed silent for a while, Two-Bit chain-smoking and handing her another smoke for when she needed one. Anna felt really bad about telling Two-Bit that Kathy cried, but once again found her mind drifting to Steve.

There was no denying it now. She had continued to try since last seeing him but there was no chance. Not after the way she had felt when seeing him Saturday night.

The bell inside the school rang signalling lunch but Anna ignored it until Two-Bit started talking again.

"Hey, here comes Steve," he said.

Anna's heart thudded stupidly again and she looked up to see Steve heading their way.

She swallowed, her heart beating faster and her stomach churning as she watched him approach. He looked fantastic; his hair flawlessly curled, his black t-shirt showing off his broad chest and his low jeans hanging perfectly on his hips. She was really having a tough time pulling her eyes away from him.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at them and she decided that it was time to leave, immediately. She didn't want to be around him. It was kind of hard just watching him now that she was thinking of him differently. She didn't want to hang around to see what happened if she had to talk to him.

"Thanks for skipping with me," she said to Two-Bit, jumping down from the car.

"Where ya going?"

She took one last drag of her smoke and threw it in the nearby gutter. "To find Kathy."

Not bothering to wait for him to reply and not letting herself glance back at Steve, she took off in the direction of the front of the school and tried to figure out how long she could keep avoiding him without it becoming obvious.

XXXXX

Steve took a long drink of his coke and wished for a cigarette as he closed the hood of the Buick he was working on. It had been a long day and he wasn't sure tomorrow was going to be any better.

Things with Evie had gone well that day, but his mind was more on Anna and why she was avoiding him. Of course he couldn't be positive that she _was_ avoiding him, but he was pretty damn sure.

For starters she hadn't turned up for their shared math class. At the time he had wondered if she had gone home, still feeling sick. When Danny and Tim Shepard had turned up at his house yesterday he had assumed that something was going down with a rival gang, but Danny had simply said that Anna was sick in bed and wanted Steve to know she wouldn't be coming to tutoring.

Steve headed over to the sink and began washing his hands. He hadn't thought much of Anna being sick until she hadn't turned up to class. He had known she was at school too, having seen her and Kathy whispering in the corridor that morning, so her going home sick was the only explanation he had been able to think of.

But then she'd been outside with Two-Bit at the beginning of lunch and Steve had realised right away that they had skipped class.

He had been more than a bit angry when he had figured that one out. After all the work he had put into helping Anna with her math, she had to go and skip class just when she started doing really well. But the look on her face when she had glanced over at him for a second before getting up to leave had made Steve think that maybe she wasn't just skipping class.

Maybe she was doing her best to avoid him.

First by not coming to their tutoring lesson on Sunday night, then by skipping class and, finally, by leaving Two-Bit's car the moment she had caught sight of him. He wondered if she would come to tutoring tomorrow or blow that off as well. He figured either way, he would know whether or not she was avoiding him.

What he didn't understand was why she would be avoiding him. They were still getting along, still friends, yet for some reason she didn't seem to want to be near him. He was sure he hadn't done anything to make her angry; she would have made sure he knew about it if he had. Not only that but she had still come to math, and even his place for tutoring, the one time he really _had_ said something to offend her.

The bell from the front of the store chimed as Steve finished drying his hands and he walked out to greet whoever was there. He figured he shouldn't care even if Anna was avoiding him. Sure they were friends, but it wasn't as if she were his best friend or anything. He could definitely live without her.

"Hey," he said in surprise as he walked into the front store to find Evie carrying two bottles of Coke to the counter.

All worries about Anna avoiding him were shoved to the back of his mind as he gave Evie a once over. She looked good in her skirt and blouse, hair curled and eyes dark with makeup.

Evie smiled. "Just popping in to grab these," she said, holding up the Cokes and handing over some change. "Sylvia's ready to go home but I wanted to stop in and see you."

Steve smirked. Evie had been waiting for him outside school that morning when he and Two-Bit had pulled up in Two-Bit's car. Though he was still picturing her with other guys, he had found being around her this morning more comfortable than it had been on Saturday night.

She had held his hand for a few minutes, flirted incessantly and kissed his cheek before taking off with Sylvia. Steve hadn't minded at all. In fact for a minute he had had a tough time keeping the grin off his face.

They hadn't made any plans for another date but, if that morning was anything to go by, Evie seemed intent on making sure they did.

"You guys just driving around?" he asked, glancing out the window to where Sylvia sat in her beat up old ford.

Evie nodded. "Yeah. Hey, I was thinking we could have lunch together tomorrow," she said.

Steve nodded. "Sure."

"Great! I'll meet you by your car?"

Steve nodded again, making a mental note to take his car in the morning, not Two-Bit's.

"See you tomorrow then," Evie said, giving him one last smile before leaving.

Steve watched her walk out, wanting nothing more than to make her wait around half an hour for him to finish work so he could take her home with him. It had been too long since they had been together. The kiss goodnight on Saturday had been nice, but tame and that had just made Steve's anger at her kissing other guys increase.

He remembered how tousled she had been at the football game after making out with Miller. He didn't know what had happened after they had left the bathroom that night. He knew Dally had nearly kicked the shit out of Miller, but didn't know what happened between him and Evie.

He knew he would probably be happier not knowing, but there was a twisted part of him that needed to know, to know if she had been with anyone else or if it was still just him. He desperately hoped it was still just him.

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**A/N:** Please review :)

Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.


	20. Swimming In A Fish Bowl

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or the slightly obscure lyrics I have used in the title of this chapter ... they belong to Pink Floyd :)

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**Wednesday, April 6th, 1966**

Sitting on the couch on the front porch, Steve wondered if his waiting was pointless and if he was wasting his time by waiting for Anna when he could be doing something much more enjoyable. He could be hanging out with Soda, working on his car, or even talking to Evie.

Well, maybe not talking to Evie; she had wanted him to call her that night, but he wasn't one for talking on the phone. They had, however, had lunch together yesterday, and today and Evie had made a point of saying she wanted to do something this weekend.

Steve had agreed wholeheartedly. She'd had her hand on his upper thigh and had been whispering in his ear as they sat outside the grocery store. She could have suggested spending the night doing each other's hair and he would have agreed.

But right then, even if talking to Evie wasn't an option, he _could _be hanging out with Soda or working on his car. Instead he was sitting on his porch, smoking, and waiting. Waiting for someone he was sure wouldn't even turn up and was now positive was avoiding him.

Anna had skipped math again yesterday and today, and she hadn't turned up for tutoring last night either. If she wasn't making it so obvious by still going to all her other classes, Steve would have just assumed she having a bad week. But she was going to every class but the one she shared with him, making it obvious she was avoiding him.

He still couldn't figure it out either. He had thought about the last time he had seen her, which was Saturday night after his date with Evie, and he couldn't remember saying anything that could have annoyed her. In fact, he remembered _thanking_ her for her help.

Two-Bit reckoned it was her "time" and that the last thing she wanted to do during that was sit through the subject she was worst at with someone who, at one point, she had really disliked. Soda, on the other hand, thought it had something to do with Evie. He wasn't sure what and couldn't give him any advice and had basically been no help at all.

Steve figured his best bet was to talk to her and find out for sure, but talking to someone who was avoiding you wasn't all that easy. He wanted to talk to her, though, and not just about why she was avoiding him. He wouldn't admit that he _missed_ hanging out with Anna, but he did. A very tiny bit.

A car rumbled in front of him and Steve looked up, thinking that Danny might be dropping Anna off tonight after having found out she hadn't turned up last night. Instead he saw his dad's car pull into the driveway and frowned. His dad worked night shifts from Monday through 'til Thursday; for him to be home by 7:30 wasn't really a good sign.

"Hey, Dad," Steve called as his dad got out of the car. He noticed the six-pack his dad was carrying and the slight stumble he had going on and inwardly groaned.

"What're you doing home?" John asked.

"I don't work Wednesdays," Steve said.

"I know that; I ain't stupid," his dad said, walking up the porch steps. "I mean, why are you home? Ain't you usually with your friends if you don't got work?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded, not bothering to mention that he was waiting for Anna. He had mentioned the tutoring arrangement to his dad once, stupidly hoping that his dad might be proud that his son had been asked to tutor another student, but he had simply told him to make sure _he_ didn't have to put up with any dumb kids who couldn't count.

"You're home early," Steve mentioned, following his dad into the house.

"What's yer point?"

"Nothing, just sayin'."

John swayed as he turned to look at Steve, a sneer on his face as he stood in the kitchen. "What? You wanna make a crack about me not being at work?"

"No."

"Bullshit," his dad said and turned to put his beer in the fridge. "Anyway, they sent me home early."

"Sure," Steve muttered, turning away.

"What was that, son?"

Steve closed his eyes and silently cursed himself. Back-talking was one thing, being overheard doing it was quite another.

"Nothing."

"You little bastard," his dad said. "You think you can question me about not being at work? You think you can disrespect me so much as to talk behind my back?"

"I didn't-" Steve started but was interrupted.

"You're so fucking ungrateful!" John yelled. "I work too many hours and too many days to have to put up with shit like this, especially from my own son who I provide for."

"Yeah," Steve said, unable to keep his trap shut, "you do a real good job of providing for me. Just look at this great house we got, and check out all the food in the fridge."

"Out!" John roared, stumbling as he tried to step forward. "Get the fuck out!"

Steve grabbed his jacket off of the kitchen table and walked out the front door. He didn't need to be told twice.

XXXXX

Anna placed the two trays of uncooked muffins in the oven, turned to face the table in the middle of the kitchen and frowned; one banana cake, two batches of chocolate chip cookies, one apple pie, and two trays of twelve muffins on the way.

Pushing her hair away from her face, knowing she was probably smudging it with even more flour, she sighed and leaned against the counter behind her. She loved baking, and it was the one thing she was good at, but whenever something was bothering her she tended to take it a little too far.

The only silver lining was that she lived with two men who ate like horses; otherwise, all that baking would go quickly to waste.

Thinking of her dad, Anna glanced at the clock on the wall, pleased that it was still a couple of hours until he was due home from work. He had pretty much left her alone since hitting her, only occasionally grumbling at her about something that wasn't a big deal at all. Because of this, she had done her best to forget what had happened; it wasn't easy, but it was better than dwelling on being hit.

But, even if her dad wasn't on her case, she was still glad to have a while to clean up her mess before he arrived home.

She didn't know what time Danny was due home, but that didn't matter, she was just glad that he wasn't home right then.

She sighed again, frustrated with herself as she remembered that she had felt absolutely nothing but happy that Danny was going out when Tim had turned up earlier. Not a thing about Tim. It wasn't as if she had ever had _feelings_ for Tim, but now she wasn't even feeling a little excited about seeing him.

In fact, she had even stared hopefully at his butt as he and Danny had walked down the path to his car, and though she could appreciate the niceness of it, she hadn't felt the urge to really ogle like she used to.

Even though it hadn't helped with convincing herself she didn't like Steve, she had hoped that seeing Tim would make her remember all the thoughts she used to have about him. It wasn't even two weeks ago she had been having those thoughts while standing outside Buck's, but upon seeing him in her own house there was nothing.

Nothing but being pleased that Danny was leaving the house before she was meant to leave to go to Steve's. That way, as far as Danny was concerned, she had been to tutoring with Steve and made it back home all in the time he had been out. Of course, she hadn't and she hadn't gone yesterday, either.

Danny didn't know, and Anna was hoping he wouldn't find out, but she had simply stayed late at Grandpa Joe's yesterday and caught a ride home with Kathy. Grandpa Joe had known something was up with her almost as soon as she had arrived, and Anna had spilled everything. Everything about Steve and him being back with Evie and all the stupid feelings she was having whenever she thought of him.

Grandpa Joe had been sympathetic and had listened to her talk and talk about Steve and gush over every little thing she had only recently noticed about him. She had felt pretty bad afterwards, treating her Grandpa like a girlfriend, but he hadn't minded. He said he just wanted Anna to have someone to talk to and was glad it could be him.

He hadn't been particularly pleased that she was skipping out on her tutoring though and had made her promise that she would go the next day. Anna felt real bad about breaking that promise but there was no way she was going. She had done a good job in avoiding Steve so far, having skipped math yesterday and today and having not seen him since Monday lunchtime.

But she wanted to see him.

She hated the idea of it, of seeing him properly for the first time since knowing that she really did like him, but she missed him. She missed being near him. She hated the thought of that, too. It made everything so much more real.

A knock at the front door sounded and Anna pushed herself away from the counter, glad for the interruption but hoping whoever it was would leave quickly so she could clean the kitchen. Of course, she wasn't expecting the person at the door to be Steve.

"What are you doing here?" she asked once she got over her surprise at seeing him.

She thought wildly of the hideous apron she was wearing, the disarray her hair was in and the four smudges she _knew_ were on her face and neck as well however many others she didn't know about.

"Yeah, good question," Steve said. "I suppose I should really be at my own place helping you with your math."

Unsure of what to say, Anna said nothing. She both wanted to see him and didn't want to see him. Either way, she couldn't deny that seeing him sure was nice and he looked really good … if only she didn't have to talk to him too. If only her breathing would stay even at the sight of him.

"You've been avoiding me," Steve continued.

"No I haven't." It sounded like a lie even to her own ears.

"Then you didn't come to tutoring yesterday or today because …" Steve trailed off, waiting for her answer.

She half-shrugged. "I've been busy."

"Yeah, sure looks like it," Steve said, giving her a once over.

Anna flushed in embarrassment and anger. It was bad that he was there, that she was seeing him and that her stomach was flipping at the sight of him. Being caught out and confronted about avoiding him made things ten times worse. And did he really have to take obvious notice of how she was looking right then?

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, irritation filling her voice as she silently wished for a cigarette. She'd already had more in the last few days than she'd had in the last few months.

Steve shrugged and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. "Had a fight with my dad," he said, "thought I'd come see you and find out what's going on before heading over to Soda's."

Anna immediately felt bad. Whether she wanted him there or not wasn't the point anymore; he had been fighting with his dad and, even if he was there to get answers out of her, she wasn't going to turn him away. He hadn't turned her away when she had turned up at his place.

Quickly taking off the ugly apron, she walked outside with Steve and closed the door behind her.

XXXXX

"So?" Steve asked as they sat on the porch together.

"So what?"

"So, why have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't been avoiding you," she said, and though she put on a good act, Steve knew she was lying.

"C'mon, Anna," he said. "We both know you have."

"No, I haven't," she snapped and Steve raised an eyebrow. "Look, I've just had a bad week and haven't been up for tutoring."

"Or math?"

"Or math," she agreed.

Steve was silent as he turned away and looked out at the road. A bad week. He supposed it was possible, had even thought of it himself, but he was willing to put money on the fact that she was avoiding him. After a moment he took his comb out of his back pocket and ran it through his hair before turning to her.

"Look, have I done something to piss you off?" he asked, hoping she said no.

Anna looked at him in surprise. "No."

"Okay, good." Steve nodded, relieved. Not even considering asking about Two-Bit's idea, he moved on to Soda's. "Is this about me and Evie, then?"

He watched as her eyes went wide and … was that a blush he saw? _Bingo!_

"What about you and Evie?"

"Are you avoiding me because I'm dating Evie again?"

She looked away for a few minutes and Steve thought she actually looked upset. He didn't get it. She had worked pretty damn hard to help him out with Evie, she should be pleased that all her work had worked.

"Yes," she finally said, still not looking at him.

"Why?"

"Well, I dunno. I guess things are different this time."

"Because we get along now?" he asked, the first thoughts entering his mind coming out of his mouth. "Are you thinking things might go back to how they used to be? Between you and me, I mean."

Anna frowned at him. "I wasn't, but-"

"They ain't," he interrupted and lit a cigarette. "You don't gotta worry about that."

Anna was silent again. Steve didn't know why he was even trying so hard to find out what was going on or to convince her that they were going to stay friends. He figured it was because they _were_ friends. She was his only girl friend and maybe, because she was a girl, he cared about her the same way he did Soda, Johnny and the guys. Maybe.

"It's just kind of weird, ya know?" she finally said.

"No, I don't."

She grinned and rolled her eyes at him. "No, of course you don't," she said. "It was bad before, last time the two of you were together, because we didn't get along. Now it's weird because we do get along."

"I still don't get it," Steve said.

"Evie's my cousin," she said and turned to look at him, "and you, well you're my friend … and now you're dating."

Steve was silent. So that was it. It was weird for her because they were friends now and he was dating her cousin. Her cousin and her friend were dating. He supposed he understood. Kind of.

"So you're just going to keep avoiding me for as long as me and Evie are seeing each other?"

"I gotta check the muffins," she said, standing up and blatantly ignoring him.

Steve grabbed her wrist to stop her, but the look that flashed in her eyes as she looked from his hand to his eyes made him let it go as if it were on fire.

"Sorry, I forgot," he said and pointed to the almost healed cut and fading bruise on her cheek.

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "I really gotta get back inside."

"Yeah, look," Steve began, deciding the only weapon he had was something she had tried so hard to get him to admit to, "we're friends now, ain't we?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You're really using that against me?"

"Sure am," he said, smirking.

"Fine. Yes. We're friends."

His smirk widened and he stood up. "Then stop avoiding me and come back to math tomorrow. I hate to admit it, but it's actually less fun without you."

Anna stared at him and he stared right back, not willing to give up on this.

"Fine," she said finally. "I'll see you tomorrow."

XXXXX

Anna leaned her back on the closed door and bit her lip. That was really not fun. Not just being around someone she apparently couldn't stop checking out now that she could admit how good looking he was, but someone she kept having thoughts of kissing and practically dragging to her bedroom every time she looked at him or noticed how close he had been sitting to her.

Of course being around someone who seemed worried about whether she was avoiding him or not and seemed to feel bad for grabbing her because he had thought it had freaked her out hadn't been easy either. He had been much too nice for her to deal with. The whole problem would be much easier if he _would_ just go back be being a jerk. At least then she wouldn't like him.

At least then she wouldn't be feeling tingly and warm inside because he had grabbed her wrist.

Coming up with a reason for avoiding him had been just as hard too, but she had decided she might as well stay close to the truth when he had brought up Evie. It was reasonably true anyway, not her main reason for avoiding him of course, but close enough.

Walking into the kitchen and taking the muffins out of the oven, Anna realised that she had to go to math tomorrow. She had to go and sit next to Steve for just under an hour and act as if she only thought of him as a friend, act as thought the thought of him dating Evie didn't make her want to throw up and act as though she wasn't desperately wishing he had kissed her the other week just so she knew if his lips felt as good as they looked.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered, placing the tray on stove. She was acting like such a _girl_!

She was a girl, obviously, but growing up with Danny and his buddies, including the tough as nails Tim Shepard, she had learned to not be so damn sensitive. Yet here she was, acting like a stupid little girl who had a crush on a boy who didn't like her back.

God, she hoped she could pull her shit together. Not just around Steve, but in general. Even around Two-Bit the other day she had been acting like an idiot and if she kept it up someone was bound to notice. She might not be longing for Tim anymore, but the last thing she wanted was to make an idiot of herself by acting like a love struck teenager in front of him, especially when she hadn't even acted that way when she had liked him.

Glancing at the muffins in front of her she frowned, realising they were more than a little burnt and she had probably come inside just in time. Smirking, she thought of her dad's face had she burned down the kitchen and figured it was probably a good thing she hadn't.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

Reviews would be really great. I'm getting a bunch of hits on this fic but not so many reviews. If you're reading, I would love to know what you think :)


	21. Swimming Through Sick Lullabies

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or the lyrics to 'Mr. Brightside' by The Killers that I have used in the chapter title.

**

* * *

Saturday, April 9th, 1966**

After having to spend an hour sitting next to Steve in math on Thursday before chatting to him for a while when waiting for Kathy in the hopes that he would think everything was back to normal, Anna had very quickly decided that yesterday had been the best Good Friday and day off school ever.

That was, until Evie had called, begging for Anna to come along on a double date the following night.

She had said no immediately but, as usual, her cousin had managed to talk her into it, just like she always used to. Words of things being a little awkward on their last date and how much she would love her favourite cousin forever had spilled from Evie's mouth and Anna had given in.

She hated the thought of being on a date with them, but couldn't say that finding out things had been a little awkward on their first date hadn't pleased her. She couldn't find it in herself to be happy for them, but she did want them both to be happy … she would just prefer if that didn't happen with each other.

And now, because she couldn't say no to her cousin, she was sitting in a booth at the Dingo opposite Steve, who had his arm around Evie, and next to Sodapop, who was doing his best to entice her into conversation with him.

"Sorry, what?" she asked, turning away from the sickening couple in front of her to face Soda.

"I asked how your driving lessons were going."

"Oh, I haven't had any more," she said, attempting to get into the conversation and ignore Steve and Evie. "Steve's been too busy helping me with math and Danny, well, I won't be taking a lesson from him ever again, I don't think."

Soda grinned. "You should just feel lucky that Stevie even let you drive his car. _I_ hardly ever get to drive his car."

"So I've heard," she said, picking up a fry from her plate.

The conversation seemed to end there and Anna felt a little bad. Soda was doing his best to keep some kind of conversation going with her and she was acting as if being there next to him was the very last thing she wanted to be doing.

Which, in all honesty, it almost was.

There was no need to be taking that out on Soda, though. They'd endured plenty of these stupid double dates together in the past and, though they had never been on them as more than friends constantly being set up to satisfy Evie's love of double dates, they had always managed to have a bit of fun.

However, Anna figured this time was a bit different. Liking a guy you were on a double date with was a good thing - so long as it was the guy you were being set up with, not the guy dating your cousin.

"You okay?" Soda asked, leaning closer.

Anna looked at him and wished for a moment that it was him she liked rather than Steve. He was so damn handsome. While they would occasionally flirt and got along well enough, she had never had any romantic feelings for him. There was no way she could deny how good looking he was, though, and she figured if she had to suffer through tonight, at least it was with someone handsome.

"I'm fine," she said and grinned.

"You sure?" he persisted. "'Cause you've been playing with that same fry for about five minutes now."

She dropped the fry. "I have a bit of a headache."

"Are you okay?" This time it was Evie asking.

Looking up, she found both Evie and Steve scrutinizing her. Briefly she wondered if Steve had gone back on the promise he had made in math on Thursday.

"Don't tell Evie what I said about the two of you, okay?" she had asked him.

Steve had looked pissed off. "You really have to ask?"

Their talk hadn't been mentioned again, and after that Anna had done her best to make things seem normal, despite how hard it was. Looking at him now, she instinctively knew that he hadn't said anything, and that he wouldn't say anything.

"I'm fine," she repeated. "I promise."

Evie watched her carefully for a moment. Anna stared back, unflinchingly.

"Okay," she said, looking away from Anna and back at Steve, "should we get going then? The movie starts in half an hour."

Anna nodded in agreement and they all got up to go.

"You sure you're okay?" Steve asked as they made their way outside. Evie and Soda were behind them, talking about the movie.

Looking up into Steve's eyes, Anna just nodded.

"Is it your dad?" he asked and she decided then that her attempts at acting normal around him yesterday must have been successful or he would have been asking if he and Evie were the problem.

"No," she told him, "like I said, just a headache."

Steve nodded and they reached his car. "If it gets too bad, let me know and me or Soda will take you home."

She nodded again, wishing, not for the first time, that Steve would just go back to being a jerk. It would make not liking him so much easier.

XXXXX

The movie was terrible; some stupid cowboy movie, the kind Anna had never been particularly keen on and wasn't doing anything to keep her interest tonight.

The weather wasn't much better - only the middle of spring yet unbearably warm for nine at night - and she was glad she hadn't bothered to bring a sweater with her.

But worse than the movie and the weather was the company. Soda was doing his best to keep her in good spirits, and was actually doing a reasonably good job with his jokes and cheery conversation, but Anna continually found her eyes straying to the couple sitting a few rows ahead of them.

Steve would slip his arm around Evie's shoulder and Anna would frown in their direction; Evie would lean her head against Steve's chest and Anna's lip would almost bleed at how hard she was biting it; Steve would lean in to whisper something in Evie's ear, causing her to do that stupid giggly thing and blush, and Anna would burn with jealousy while her stomach clenched.

"You and Steve fighting again?" Soda asked suddenly.

"No, why?"

Soda grinned at her. "You know how the saying goes … If looks could kill …"

Anna laughed, again pleased that Soda was both good looking and fun. "We ain't fighting."

Soda nodded but looked sceptical. Thankfully the first movie had finished and the half hour break between movies was beginning. Anna decided to use this time to get away from the happy couple for a bit.

"I'm just gonna head to the bathroom," she told Soda who nodded.

Getting out of her seat she quickly headed to the small brick room that held two toilets and a mirror and was always crowded with girls fixing their makeup or gossiping about boys and other girls.

Ignoring the two empty toilets and the girls in front of the mirror, Anna leaned against one of the sinks and sighed. Knowing Steve and Evie were practically back together was bad enough, and having dinner with them at the Dingo was just as bad, but watching them practically cuddling at the Nightly Double was gruelling.

Taking a breath, she quickly pulled herself together and walked out of the brick room, ready to face the rest of her night watching Steve and Evie being sickeningly cute. She was more than half way back to her seat when she glanced down the small gap between the entry and the concession stand and her stomach plummeted.

There was Evie, her back pressed up against the wall of the store with Steve leaning over her, his mouth attached to hers as though both their lives depended on it.

Anna couldn't look away. She wanted to, God how she wanted to, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. Her mouth opened and she felt as though all the air had left her lungs as Evie's hands threaded into Steve's hair and Steve's hands …

_Oh God!_ She took a shaky breath and pressed a hand to her stomach as Steve's hands roamed all over Evie. Touching, groping, stroking; Anna was sure she was going to throw up just looking at it but she still couldn't look away.

Instead she just stood there, people bustling around her as if she wasn't even there, watching her cousin making out with the guy she liked. The guy who, as she watched him with Evie, she realised just how much she really, _really_ liked.

She felt sick. She wanted to run, she wanted to break them apart, she wanted to -

"Hey!" Her eyes flew away from Steve and Evie as if it was them who had called to her, catching her watching them, and not Soda. "What's going on?"

Anna swallowed and looked at him. "I have to go," she said, and took off as fast as she could without making even more of an idiot out of herself.

XXXXX

"C'mon," Steve said, grabbing Evie's hand and leading her into the little nook between the concession stand and entrance.

She obliged with a small giggle, and Steve smirked. Their kiss last weekend had been fairly low key and since then he had been hanging out for something proper. The little alcove they were heading into wasn't exactly ideal, but he had been wanting this kiss for so long now that Steve didn't care. He just wanted to kiss her.

"Steve," Evie whispered as she backed up against the wall of the concession stand, Steve looming over her, "anyone could see us here."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Do you really care?"

She shook her head and he smirked again before leaning in.

Her lips were just as soft as he had remembered and he was hit with the memory of her mouth the moment their tongues met.

Steve moaned softly, resting his hands on her hips and deepening the kiss. It had been too long, not just since kissing Evie, but since kissing anyone, having any physical contact with a girl. There had been the almost kiss with Anna, but that had only been almost.

Steve drove that thought out of his head and kept his mind firmly on kissing Evie. The little memory of that almost moment with Anna, even if it had been kind of intense, shouldn't be entering his head, especially not now.

With the fingers that were winding their way through his hair, Steve needed no more encouragement in keeping his mind on the girl he was kissing.

Quickly pulling her body closer to his, he slid his hands from her waist and up her back, before letting them skim down her sides, ghosting over the sides of her breasts. Evie moaned into his mouth, letting him know she appreciated his actions.

Deciding not to let her giving mood go to waste, he trailed one hand to her lower back and over her hip, pressing himself even closer to her while his other hand slipped under her blouse, lightly touching the skin on her stomach.

"Steve," Evie gasped, pushing him away, "we have to stop."

Steve looked at her and swallowed, knowing she was right. "Yeah."

She gave him a quick grin. "But we should definitely continue that another time."

Steve smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they made their way out of the alcove, spotting Soda almost immediately as he looked from them to something near the entrance.

"Hey, what's going on?" Steve asked as they reached them.

Soda looked at them and at the entrance again. "I dunno," he said. "Anna just took off."

"What?" Steve and Evie both asked at the same time.

Soda shrugged. "I just came up to her, said 'hey', and she took off. Said she had to go."

"What the hell did you do to her?" Evie screeched.

Sodapop looked indignant. "I didn't do nothin'," he said angrily and Steve knew he was telling the truth. Soda wouldn't do anything to upset Anna; they were friends.

Evie ignored him and turned to Steve. "You have to go find her," she said.

"What?" Why _he_ had to go find her, he was unsure, but at the same time he did want to make sure she was alright.

"You two are friends now," Evie said. "In fact you're probably closer with her than I am these days."

Steve actually agreed, but had a feeling that doing so out loud wouldn't impress Evie all that much. "I don't know."

Evie stepped closer and lowered her voice. "She came to you the other week after her dad … well, after they fought. She didn't come to me. Please? Please go make sure she's okay?"

Steve nodded and glanced at Soda who was giving him a strange look. "Stay with Soda," he told Evie.

Heading out the entrance, he kept an eye out for Anna and wondered what the hell was wrong with her. She had said that nothing was wrong with her dad and that she just had a headache, but Steve firmly believed it was something more than that. Anna was a tough chick, it had to have been something big to make her just take off.

As much as he didn't want it to be, he was thought it might still be him and Evie making her uncomfortable. She had seemed good and her normal self yesterday, maybe a little quieter than usual, but nothing major. Now she was taking off during a double date with the two of them. To Steve it just made sense that that was the problem.

Looking around as he reached the footpath in front on the drive-in, he saw her heading down the street and hurried to catch up with her.

"Hey!" he called and she turned to look at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked when he caught up with her.

"Checking on you. Evie's worried Soda did something to upset you."

"Hardly," she muttered and started walking again.

"Wait," he said, grabbing her wrist and letting it drop when she tensed straight away. "What's going on?"

She turned back to him and shrugged. "Like I said earlier; I have a headache."

Steve didn't know whether to believe her or not.

"Seriously," she said, "it's just a headache. Soda didn't do anything to upset me _and_ I'm not even as bothered by you and Evie as I thought I would be."

Steve raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really. Although you two are so cute it's a bit sickening, I just wanna go home and sleep off this headache."

Steve didn't quite believe her about the headache, but found that he did think she was telling the truth about not being bothered by him and Evie.

"Okay. Wait here a minute and I'll go get Evie and -"

"No," she interrupted. "I don't want to ruin your date. I'll just walk home."

"Not a chance."

Anna stared at him and he stared right back, not even considering letting her win this one.

"Fine," she finally gave in. "Can you ask Soda if he will walk me home?"

"You sure you don't want a ride?"

She nodded. "The fresh air might help my head."

"Okay, wait right here. Don't go anywhere."

"I'll stay right where I am," she complied and sat herself down on the pavement.

Steve nodded, continued watching her for a moment, then took off back to Soda and Evie.

XXXXX

"So, how long have you liked Steve?" Soda asked as they walked down a quiet street toward their neighbourhood.

Anna looked at him. "I don't like Steve!" she said, but was sure the look on her face and the defensive tone of her voice proved otherwise.

"Okay, how long have you been in love with him then?"

She stared at Soda, stunned. "I don't love him," she said, confused about what she was feeling but knowing at least this was true.

Soda grinned. "Maybe not, but you do like him. Don't even bother denying it again," he said quickly when she tried to disagree with him, "not after your reaction to seeing him with Evie."

Anna sighed and worried her lip. "Maybe," she said quietly.

She fought back another sigh and pushed away the image of Steve leaving her alone on the street and going back to Evie. She had told him to do so, after all … but it still hurt.

"So, how long?"

"Since his date with Evie last week," she said, forcing a grin. "Pretty bad timing huh?"

"Definitely," Soda agreed.

"I don't think it would have made any difference had I realised earlier though," Anna said, voicing what seeing them together had made her realise. "Steve doesn't see me that way, whether Evie's in the picture or not, he doesn't see me like _that_."

She frowned again, hating how true her words were.

Soda didn't say anything and Anna was pleased. Telling someone how she was feeling was a relief, even if it was Steve's best friend, but sometimes it was better to simply talk, without advice being given.

"You won't say anything, will you?" she quickly asked, realising that she was indeed telling Steve's best friend that she liked Steve.

"I ain't gonna say anything," Soda said. "But it must have been pretty bad, seeing them together tonight," Soda continued.

Pictures of Steve with his hands all over Evie's body flashed in front of Anna's mind and her stomach churned.

"It wasn't nice," she said, continuing at the look Soda gave her. "Okay it was actually pretty damn horrible."

Sullenly she sat herself on the edge of the sidewalk and crossed her arms over her knees.

Soda nodded, looking thoughtful as he sat next to her. "You must really like him huh?"

Anna nodded. "I think so. I mean, I knew I liked him, and I knew I suddenly thought of him as really, _really_ good looking, but …"

"But?" Soda prompted.

"But seeing him like that with Evie, the way he … it actually hurt, Soda. It made me feel sick seeing him touching someone else like that, even worse my own cousin." She turned to Soda, frowning as she voiced what she was beginning to realise. "It made me realise that I don't just like him and want to kiss him every chance I get. In fact, I don't just _like_ him at all; I have real feelings for him and I want to be _with_ him."

Her eyes grew wide with her words and Soda looked back at her calmly.

"Shit!"

He nodded. "It ain't the best situation to be in."

"Do you have to be so damn calm?" she asked, getting up to stand in front of him. "This is bad!"

Soda stood up and grabbed her shoulders. "I know it ain't good," he said, "but do you think freaking out about it is going to help any?"

Anna shrugged under his grasp. "I guess not."

"Exactly." Soda turned then and kept an arm around her shoulder as they started home again. "It's a real shit situation and it's making you feel like shit, right?"

Anna nodded.

"But the only thing you can do is accept it, because I'm pretty sure it ain't about to change."

Anna nodded again, knowing Soda was right. She had feelings for Steve; stressing herself out about them wasn't going to change that fact.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. Keep them coming, I really appreciate them. Also a big thanks to _the perfect imperfection_ who went out of her way today to give me my 100th review.


	22. Fantasy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Oustiders or 'Fantasy' by Mariah Carey.

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**Monday, April 11****th, 1966**

Steve leaned back against his car as Evie trailed her lips down his neck. Gripping her hips a little bit tighter, he pulled her closer to him, knowing full well that the two minute warning bell would ring any second, but not wanting to let her go.

"Will you meet me at lunch?" Evie asked, nibbling on his ear lobe.

Steve nodded in agreement just as the bell rang. "You know," he said as she pulled away, "we could just ditch classes for the day and go back to my place."

Steve was about as hopeful as a guy could be. After their amazing kiss at the drive-in and the intense make out session in his car when he had taken her home later that night, Steve was aching for her. Even the thought of Evie having been with other guys wasn't changing that fact.

"We can't," Evie said with a grin.

"Why not?" Steve was sure there was almost a whine in his voice.

Evie laughed, grabbed his hand, and began dragging him towards the school. "Because Mr. Clayton has been watching us for the last ten minutes," she said, indicating their vice principal, who turned and went inside as they looked at him. "He knows we're here, so we can't leave."

Steve let her lead him into the school. "Well, why don't you come around tonight then?"

Evie gave him a look. "I'm beginning to think you're just trying to get me into bed, Mr. Randle."

"Well it's been practically forever," Steve grumbled, adding quietly, "at least for me."

Evie stopped as they reached his locker. Looking at him, she frowned a little and Steve knew what conversation was coming. He quickly glanced around, pleased most people had disappeared into their classes.

"You didn't sleep with anyone else while we weren't together?"

Steve shook his head and shoved his hands in his front pockets. He wanted to ask how many people Evie had slept with while they had been apart, but figured his balls were more likely to stay intact if he simply asked if she _had_ slept with anyone.

"What about you?" he asked.

She pursed her lips for a moment before replying. "Nope."

Steve nodded and turned to get his science book out of his locker. "No one, huh?"

"No," she said. "Me and Bobby got pretty close, but it never happened."

"Huh." Steve closed his locker, not looking at her.

They made their way toward Evie's locker in silence, reaching it as the final bell rang. Steve stopped and looked at her for a second, a million thoughts running through his head, before leaning down to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

"See you at lunch," he said before taking off to science.

She was lying; he was sure of it. He didn't know whether or not she was lying about not sleeping with Bobby Miller, but she was definitely lying about not sleeping with anyone. Unlike Anna - who must have been pretty damn good at lying to have said good things about Steve when she still hated him - Evie was a terrible liar.

Steve pushed open the door to his science class, pleased he wasn't too late, and quickly took his seat next to Henry Phillips.

He didn't know what to think; Evie was lying to him and, he might not have been in many - or any - other real relationships, but he knew that lying wasn't the way to go about making something work.

Sure, he had lied to Evie in the past - about going out drinking with Two-Bit, getting into fights, or just "forgetting" to tell her about a girl who flirted with him - but never about something this big. Never about something that mattered.

He had purposefully not gone and slept with any other girl while they had been apart, knowing it would affect his chances at getting Evie back, and here she was, lying about having slept with people.

He hated getting all thoughtful about shit like that, but he couldn't help wondering what it meant that she was lying to him. Did she not think that her sleeping with other guys mattered? Did she not think lying to him mattered? Or did she just not want to spoil all the good that was happening between them by telling him the truth?

But really, _was_ everything all that good? Steve was happy with Evie; not as happy as he'd thought he would be, but he had come to accept that sometimes the chase was more exciting that the prize, that he had built up his relationship with Evie to have been better than it had been while they had been apart, and was remembering now that it wasn't perfect after all. Especially if she wasn't lying and he, without the unhappiness he had felt over not being with Evie, was no happier with her than he had been without her.

Steve ran a hand through his hair, pushing all thoughts of Evie out of his head, and began copying the notes his teacher was writing. This whole thing was giving him a headache.

XXXXX

For the first time she could remember, Anna was in math before Steve. It wasn't even that she had especially rushed to get there before him; in fact, she hadn't arrived any earlier than normal. Steve was late.

Well, late by his standards. The two minute warning bell hadn't actually sounded yet. But the fact that she was there before him made him late, at least late for him. Not that Anna minded. As far as she was concerned, the less she saw of Steve Randle, the better.

But, of course, she couldn't escape him that easily and the moment the two minute bell rang, he was walking through the door, on his way to sit next to her. Anna quickly looked away the moment she noticed him, heart beating harder than normal.

"Mornin'," he said as he sat down.

Anna kept her eyes on the worksheet they had been given on Friday that she was having a go at in an attempt to not think about Steve. "Morning."

Knowing there was even less chance of her figuring out any of the equations with Steve sitting next to her than there was when she had been waiting for him to arrive, Anna sighed and gave up. She refused, however, to turn and look at Steve.

She had taken Sodapop's advice from Saturday night and accepted that she really did have feelings for Steve. The kind of feelings that made her chest ache during tutoring yesterday when he had told her how great the rest of his date had been and how he and Evie had decided to officially get back together.

She was still wishing she had done what she had really wanted and called to tell Steve her head was still bothering her. It would have been a far more bearable day if she had been able to stay home, even with the image of him and Evie engraved in her mind. Instead she'd had to sit beside him, hearing about the rest of his date while her mind had begun torturing her with images of herself in Evie's place.

She wasn't sure if she was pleased that that picture had recently changed or not.

Unfortunately, another math test was upon them in a few days and Anna still needed as much help as she could get.

What was also unfortunate was that accepting her feelings for Steve was not helping her feel any less uncomfortable around him. She had been doing well last week, during the one math lesson she went to and during most of their double date, but now …

As the final bell rang, Mr. Chase took roll call and told the class to continue with Friday's worksheet. Anna doodled on said worksheet and let her mind wander again.

She had accepted her feelings but had decided yesterday that being around Steve all the time and being as close friends as they had become wasn't going to help her deal with them. She had decided to be as normal as she possibly could around him, while slowly pulling back in hopes of getting over him quicker by being less close with him.

She just hoped she could do it gradually enough that he wouldn't notice.

He didn't seem to be having any trouble not noticing her today, though. Anna frowned and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she tapped her pencil against the table. He was staring hard at the worksheet in front of him, a frown on his face and holding his own pencil so hard she thought it might actually break.

Disregarding her own decision to pull away, she leaned closer, reminding herself that she was _slowly_ pulling away after all. Small conversation and expressing a bit of concern right then was okay.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Steve glanced at her as if only just remembering she was there. "I'm fine," he said.

Looking at him, the altered image of him and Evie kissing came back to her. Altered so that Steve was now kissing and touching _her_ the way he had been kissing and touching Evie.

She nodded and sat back, failing at her attempt to fight the blush creeping up her neck.

"You just seem a little … well, upset," she said, glancing at him.

"Na, I'm good," he said, giving her a grin.

Anna nodded again, and turned completely away, taking a breath as she felt her cheeks burn even more at smile he gave her. _Jesus Christ,_ she thought to herself, trying to go back to her worksheet and ignore Steve, _stop being such a girl!_

XXXXX

Steve narrowed his eyes at Anna as she turned away, cheeks red and blushing in a way he had never seen on her before. He had seen her turn red plenty, but always in anger and he was sure she wasn't angry now.

"Are _you_ alright?" he asked, fighting a smirk.

She glanced at him. "Yeah."

"You seem a little … off."

"Off?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned.

"Yeah, you're actin' different."

Sighing, she pushed her hair away from her face and began tapping out a quick beat with her pencil again. "This isn't you starting on the whole me bein' weird about you and Evie thing again, is it? 'Cause I already told you -"

Steve shook his head. "Na, it's not that," he said. "I know you're cool with that now. You just seem a bit different."

Steve was surprised to see her blush again, and frowned in confusion. Once was possible, but twice in less than five minutes was a little strange; especially for Anna. However, her mention of Evie quickly led his thoughts back to his girlfriend.

He really didn't want to be so desperate as to ask Anna - in fact, he didn't really want her knowing anything about it at all - but the words were out before he could stop them.

"Listen, I gotta ask you somethin'."

Anna sighed, keeping her eyes on the worksheet in front of her. "So long as it's not the answer to number twelve."

"Did Evie tell you about any of the dates she went on while we weren't together?"

"Um, no. At least nothing interesting."

"So, nothing about the guys she was with?" he asked, feeling like a complete loser.

She didn't say anything for a moment, as though thinking it over. Finally, she frowned slightly and grimaced. "Ew, by with, you mean _with_?"

Steve shrugged, thinking Anna could be a bit more sympathetic to his problems. "She said she wasn't with anyone else but I know she's lying. You know what a bad liar Evie is."

"I do."

"So," he prompted, "did she say anything to you?"

"No! And now that you've mentioned it I'm going to thank God everyday that she didn't."

Steve nodded and, ignoring her short temper, let his impulsiveness play out. "Think maybe you could talk to her?"

Anna snorted. "Yeah, because that's a conversation I'm _really_ hanging out for," she said, still not looking at him. "Knowing my luck Evie will give me every little detail about every guy she's been with … including you."

Steve stayed silent. He was pretty sure her blush was from anger this time.

He supposed asking her to do that was hardly fair while her reaction was more than fair. It wasn't as though he would do something like that for her if there was a chance of finding out that kind of stuff. There were just some things you didn't need to know about friends … and some things you didn't want friends knowing about yourself.

"I'm not going to ask her," she told him a few minutes later.

Steve looked at her and Anna stared back for a couple of seconds, before quickly looking away.

"I shouldn't've asked you to, I suppose," he said, as much of an apology as he was willing to give.

Anna nodded, but stayed silent. She looked really upset, almost near tears, and Steve wondered if it was his idiot request or something else.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "Just need to work on this stuff," she said, tapping her finger on the worksheet. "We've got that test in a few days."

"Okay, well, you wanna work together? I can help -"

"No thanks," she said tersely, face beginning to colour. "I really need to be able to do these by myself if I'm gonna pass."

Steve watched as she let her hair fall in front of her face and started working on the worksheet. He didn't know what her problem was; she could deny all she wanted that she had one, but it was obvious she was lying.

It was a little weird. First Evie unashamedly lying to him about not sleeping with other guys while they were apart, now Anna was lying to him about something that was clearly bothering her when, during their time as friends, she had taken to telling him that kind of thing.

Running a hand through his hair, Steve turned back to his worksheet and tried telling himself it was only Evie lying to him that bothered him, and that Anna not talking to him about what was wrong wasn't a problem at all.

XXXXX

"I am such an idiot."

Grandpa Joe grinned and handed her a bottle of Coke. "What happened?"

Anna sighed and opened the Coke. "I just can't be myself around him," she said. "I made the decision to just be normal and pull back a little - hoping I'd get over him, but how can I act normal when I can't stop blushing every time he smiles, or just looks at me?"

Having spent the rest of the day kicking herself for acting like such a loser in front of Steve, Anna was pleased to get it off her chest. With Grandpa Joe asking her about him almost as soon as she walked in the door, she had been more than happy to let everything out and tell him all the pathetic little details.

"I mean, I'm acting like a complete loser," she continued, not bothering to wait for Grandpa Joe to reply. "And it's becoming obvious that I like him."

"He knows?" Grandpa Joe asked, sitting at the table with his tea.

"No, he doesn't, but his best friend does. He managed to figure it out." She sighed. "Thankfully, he's sworn himself to secrecy so at least Steve isn't going to find out through him. But I'm damn sure he'll find our pretty soon just by paying attention to what a freak I'm being."

Grandpa Joe frowned. "I'm sure you ain't being a _freak_," he said.

"No, Grandpa, I am," she said. "You didn't see me; I was all over the place. One minute I was trying to be nice, the next I'm blushing like a fool, and the next I'm getting pissed off at him."

"Sound to me you're acting exactly the way you're supposed to act when ya like someone."

"Technically, maybe. But this is exactly what I was afraid of happening," she said. "Part of the reason I was avoidin' him last week was because I didn't want to act like this around him. I actually thought it was fine when I finally saw him, and even on the stupid double date, but now …"

Not having the energy to finish her own sentence she simply trailed off, taking a large drink of her Coke.

"Now?" Grandpa Joe prompted.

She sighed. "Now, if I keep actin' like this, he's bound to figure out what's goin' on, just like Soda did. He's already commented that I'm acting different."

They were both silent for a while, drinking their drinks and thinking things over. Having only had the one conversation with Sodapop on Saturday night, Anna was feeling a little relieved to be talking about Steve again. She had seen Grandpa Joe twice since her confession to him last week, but Danny had been there both times. Now that she was alone with him and talking again, Anna was realising that keeping all her feelings to herself was tiresome.

With that, her thoughts drifted to Danny for a moment. He'd been doing exactly as promised by not leaving her home alone while their dad was there. Not only that, but he'd been giving her regretful looks whenever he thought she wasn't looking. She knew that, even though she'd forgiven him, he hadn't quiet forgiven himself and was doing whatever he could to make up for it.

"What if this boy likes you, too?" Grandpa Joe asked, pulling her thoughts back to Steve.

Anna frowned. "Steve? He doesn't like me like that."

"Well, how do you know?"

"Because he's with Evie," she said. That fact, in her opinion, explained everything.

"What if he's only with her because he don't realise he's got other options," Grandpa Joe said.

Anna smiled. "I'm not another option, Grandpa," she said.

"How do you know?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at her over the rim of his tea cup.

"Because I do," she said. "Because Steve doesn't see me that way, and if he did, I'm sure Soda would have told me."

And she really was. Though Evie and Soda had always gotten along, Anna had gotent the feeling Saturday night that Soda wasn't too impressed with Steve and Evie being back together. He was happy for Steve, that much was obvious, but Anna got the feeling Soda was remembering seeing Evie with Bobby Miller at the football game a month ago.

"So, what are you gonna do then?" Grandpa Joe asked.

Anna looked at him. "I dunno. The plan had been to slowly pull away so that he wouldn't notice, but if I'm acting like an idiot while I'm doing it he's gonna know something's up."

Grandpa Joe drained his cup and got up to pour himself another. "Well, whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out for ya. Though, to be honest, if this boy doesn't like you the way you like him, well … there must be somethin' wrong with him."

Anna grinned at his back, wishing it was just that simple, but still unable to get the picture of Steve kissing her the way he had kissed Evie out of her head.

* * *

**A/N: **As usual, thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Also thanks to la belle nuit who helped me fix a particularly lame sentence, and to the perfect imperfection who took the time to go through and give awesome reviews for every single chapter, and has finally caught up.

Also, thanks to everyone else who's been reviewing. The reviews have been going strong for each chapter lately and I really do appreciate every single one of them :) Keep them coming.


	23. She's Crazy Like A Fool

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders, Susie does. Nor do I own the lyrics for 'Daddy Cool' by Boney M - a song that in no way works with this chapter, but has a few lyrics that do, lol.

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Thursday, April 14th, 1966

"You finished with this page?" Steve asked, nodding at the text book they had opened between them as he continued scribbling numbers on his worksheet.

"Yeah." Anna reached forward to turn the page, not realising Steve was moving in to do the same. The moment his hand touched hers she pulled back, her face heating up and her heart thudding.

"Sorry," she said quickly.

Steve gave her a look. "No big deal."

Anna turned in her seat a little more, doing her best to place even more distance between herself and Steve. The amount she had already moved her chair wasn't nearly enough.

Despite her plans to act normally and pull away from Steve, and despite getting everything off her chest during her talk with Grandpa Joe, things for Anna had just gotten worse in every possible way.

She was blushing at every little thing; a quick smile Steve would throw her way, any intense look that he would give her when he tried explaining some ridiculous math problem during their tutoring, tiny touches like when he yanked her tapping pencil out of her hand and unintentionally brushing her hand with his fingers in the process.

She was constantly unable to meet his gaze and the few times she was able to, his eyes alone caused her to blush … _again_. All she could think of - even just from a quick glance at them - was the way they had looked at her that night on his porch, which, of course, led her mind to what had almost happened between them that night.

And she was stuttering. _Stuttering!_ As though she were fourteen again, and talking to Tim Shepard. Any attempt at normal conversation with Steve was nonexistent because she couldn't get any comprehensible words to come out.

"How're things goin' with your dad?" Steve asked, pulling her out of her thoughts and making her wince a little at the thought of trying to talk to him.

"Oh, fine," she said.

"He ain't giving you any trouble then? You haven't mentioned arguin' with him for a while."

Oh, he was giving her trouble alright. Not as much as he used to, having backed off her since hitting her, but she still had to avoid him as best she could so as not to find herself on the receiving end of a bellowing. Anna could only really be thankful that he had backed off since hitting her rather than hitting her again; one fading mark on her cheek was more than enough.

"He ain't been too bad," she said, looking at Steve but unable to keep eye contact for more than a second or two. "How's yours? Your dad I mean. How's he treatin' you?" she continued, going for normal, but achieving rambling.

"Same old."

Anna nodded and waited with her eyes on her worksheet, but Steve seemed like he had finished what he wanted to say and turned away from her. Sighing softly, she went back to work on her worksheet, knowing it was pointless to even try, just as she knew it had been pointless even trying on her math test yesterday. With the way she was responding to sitting so close to Steve, keeping her mind on anything other than him for more than a few minutes was becoming difficult.

But she tried anyway, because the only thing worse than all the time she was spending with Steve in math and in tutoring sessions, was the possibility of beginning to fail math again and needing even more tutoring sessions.

"So, you're comin' on Saturday, right?" Steve asked.

She glanced at him, then quickly back to the worksheet. "Coming where?"

"To my party. Remember? It's my birthday tomorrow, and Soda's throwin' me a party on Saturday."

How could she forget? Not only was it expected of her to show up now that she and Steve were _friends_, but Evie had cornered her on Wednesday and asked her to make the birthday cake. Feeling unheard-of amounts of dislike at her cousin, Anna had almost said no, until she had realised that the cake was, in fact, for Steve, not Evie.

"Oh, oh yeah. Yeah I'm coming," she said, her face heating up again simply due to her bad memory. "I told ya that yesterday."

Steve was silent. She glanced at him to see him giving her a half confused, half amused look.

"Yeah," he finally said. "I was just checking."

"Right."

He turned back to his worksheet and she did the same, hoping that would be the last time he spoke to her during the rest of the class. Glancing at the clock at the front of the class, she thought it possible, what with there only being ten minutes left.

But Anna's luck had never been that good.

"How do you reckon you'll do on the test tomorrow? Steve asked, only a few moments later.

"Probably terrible," she muttered.

"How come? You studied real hard for it."

"Yeah," she said. "You're right, it'll probably be fine."

"'Course it will," Steve said, nudging her elbow with his own.

Anna swallowed hard, feeling as though her face was literally on fire. Pulling her arm back, she bit her lip at the delightfully sizzling feeling on the skin Steve had touched with his own jacketless arm

"Yeah," she choked out. "'Course it will."

XXXXX

Steve watched Anna rush out of the classroom and left her to it. Normally they would head out together, sometimes even waiting together for their friends to turn up. However, the last few days had been different due to Anna's major change in personality.

The blushing, her not being able to look at him, and the downright weirdness was getting to him. He had let it go at first, thinking it was just some issue she was going through, but he had seen her talking to Two-Bit yesterday and she had seemed fine then. But, come time for her to be near him, she had become weird again.

It was bothering Steve that he was getting used to her blushing like a twelve year old, because that just wasn't Anna.

Slowly making his way out of class, he wondered if her no longer feeling strange about him and Evie was a lie, and that that's why she was acting this way around him and not Two-Bit. The memory of seeing her talking to Evie yesterday and seeming perfectly normal wrecked that theory.

"Hey, buddy," Two-Bit said as Steve walked up to him in the hall.

"Hey, did you actually go to class?" Steve asked, knowing Two-Bit's English teacher had a bad habit of keeping her students in as long as she could.

Two-Bit shook his head and leaned back against the lockers behind him. "I would have," he said, already chuckling at what was obviously going to be a joke, "but I just didn't feel like it."

Steve frowned as Two-Bit began laughing in earnest. "Right."

"But don't let that stop you from telling me about your class," Two-Bit continued with fake enthusiasm as they started down the hall. "How _was_ math today?"

Steve frowned. "Weird."

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

Originally, Steve hadn't said anything to anyone - not even Soda or Evie - about Anna's strange behaviour, thinking it would just disappear or that something was bothering her and she didn't want to talk about. Now things were just getting weirder and he was a bit confused.

"Something's up with Anna," he said. "She's been acting real strange lately."

"No she hasn't."

"Not with you maybe," Steve said. "But in math, and tutoring, and any other time I see her she's acting weird around me."

"In what way?"

Steve shrugged. "Just bein' real quiet and hardly talkin' to me. I mean, she used to talk to me more back when we didn't dig each other, now she won't say shit to me unless I speak to her first."

"That's a bit weird," Two-Bit agreed. "But hardly anythin' to write home about."

"She won't even look at me," Steve continued, "and she freaks out if I accidentally touch her, and … she's been _blushing_."

To his surprise, instead of frowning about Anna's strange behaviour like Steve had been, Two-Bit stopped in the emptying hall and broke into a large grin.

"She likes you," he said.

"What?"

"Anna. She likes you," Two-Bit said. "Like, _likes_ you."

Steve was confused. "As in …" he trailed off, not quite able to finish.

"Uh-huh," Two-Bit was nodding and still grinning. "As in, she likes you the way you like Evie."

Steve decided then and there something he had always known deep down: Two-Bit was crazy. Anna didn't like him. Not like that. They were friends and she had helped him get Evie back. He said the same thing to Two-Bit.

"Well, when did she start actin' weird around ya?" Two-Bit asked. "'Cause if I remember correctly - which I'm sure I do - it was just after your date with Evie that she began skippin out on math."

Steve thought back over the last few weeks; Anna skipping math and tutoring and doing her best to outright avoid him; Anna feeling weird about him and Evie being together and taking off during the double date last weekend; Anna and the blushing whenever he spoke to her, touched her or, sometimes, just looked at her.

Was it possible, or was Two-Bit just talking shit? Steve didn't know what to think, but it seemed like this idea, Anna liking him, might very well be the obvious answer.

"Do you really think so?" he asked Two-Bit who, having not collapsed in laughter at his own joke, made Steve realise how serious he was about this.

"I dunno," Two-Bit shrugged. "But we both know who will."

XXXXX

Steve hadn't been able to stop thinking about his conversation with Two-Bit at lunch. Was it possible that he could actually be right? All the signs pointed to him being right but, well, it was Anna.

Steve just couldn't see it. Oh, he could see all the signs and, now that it had been pointed out to him exactly where all the signs pointed, it seemed like the likeliest - and only - explanation. But he just couldn't comprehend the idea of Anna liking him in that way.

They were friends, and only just so. After years of not getting along and practically despising each other, he couldn't figure out how she could go from liking him as a friend to liking him as more than a friend.

He did his best to ignore it, but the idea wasn't as unappealing as he would have thought.

Not that he would do anything about it if it were true. They were just friends, and he had Evie. Even if Anna did like him, he didn't quite feel that way about her. Even if every now and then the memory of almost kissing her popped into is mind, it was Evie he wanted to be with.

The bell in the hall rang, and Steve quickly gathered up his notes, hurrying to catch up to Kathy as she walked out of their shared English class. Grabbing her by the elbow, he gave a quick tug to get her attention.

"Hey!" she said. whirling around. Seeing it was him, she smiled. "Oh, Steve, hi."

"Hey, think I can walk ya to your locker?"

She gave him a look before shaking her head. "I'm not going to my locker. But you can talk to me about whatever it is you want to talk to me about right here, so long as it has nothing to do with Two-Bit."

Steve grinned. "Still not givin' into him yet?"

Kathy grinned back. "Nope. In fact, I have a date this weekend."

"Really? With who?"

She gave him a shrewd look. "You really think I'm gonna tell _you_, Steve Randle? Just so you can go and tell Two-Bit and then he can do his best to beat the shit outta date before I even get to go on the date?"

"I wouldn't do that," Steve mumbled, that having been exactly what he'd been thinking.

Kathy laughed. "Sure. Now, whaddya want?"

Steve wasn't sure this was the best idea, but it was the only one he had. The idea that Anna might like him had been plaguing his mind since Two-Bit had said it at the beginning of lunch, and he needed to know if it was true or not.

"It's about Anna," he said carefully.

"What about her?"

"Listen," he leaned close so they couldn't be heard as people moved between classes. "She's been acting kinda strange lately …" he trailed off, searching Kathy's face for any indication that she might know what he was about to ask.

"In what way?" Kathy asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Well, almost every time I look at her or talk to her she blushes, and Two-Bit said … I dunno, do you think - do you think maybe she likes me?"

Kathy frowned and stayed silent, seemingly thinking over his words. Steve felt like a fool. Asking a girl if her friend liked you was completely sixth grade. Not only that but he wasn't even asking because he liked Anna back, even if a small part of him wouldn't mind if Kathy said yes.

"Aren't you and Evie back together?" Kathy finally asked.

"Yeah."

Kathy raised an eyebrow at him. "Then why on earth are you askin' me if your girlfriend's cousin likes you?"

Steve watched as she walked off, leaving him alone in the hall with her words ringing in his ears.

XXXXX

Anna could feel Kathy's eyes flicking to her as she rolled out the dough for a fresh batch of scones. In fact, she had been able to feel Kathy's eyes making their way towards her every few minutes since the moment she had turned up at Anna's place almost an hour ago.

"Is somethin' wrong?" she finally asked her friend.

Kathy glanced up at her from the chocolate cake batter covered spoon she was picking at, and they stared at each other for a few minutes before Kathy finally spoke.

"Something interesting happened today," she said.

"So interesting that you've been givin' me pensive looks since ya got here?"

Kathy nodded as Anna went back to her dough. "Steve stopped me after English today, wanting to talk."

Anna's stomach flipped at the mention of Steve.

"Ah, that explains your thoughtful looks. Gave you something about Two-Bit to think about, did he?" she asked.

"No," Kathy paused. "He asked me if you like him."

Anna couldn't help but look surprised. She knew she had been ridiculously obvious, but - even if Steve had figured something out - she hadn't expected him to think it possible or ask Kathy about it.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I asked him why he was asking about his girlfriend's cousin."

Anna nodded. That was a good answer. It might not have been a no but it wasn't a yes either. She figured an almost rude comment was probably more effective than a no anyway.

"So?" Kathy asked.

"Huh?"

"It wasn't an out of the blue question," Kathy said, dipping her spoon back into the bowl for more batter. "I mean, it was outta the blue for me, but, if what he was saying is true, then he seemed to have pretty good reason for thinkin' you like him."

Anna was silent.

"So? Do you like him?"

"Of course not," Anna said, lying through her teeth and ignoring Kathy's raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Because he said you've been -"

"I don't like him and I don't want to talk about this, okay?"

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit_, she thought as she turned away, having a quiet panic attack. He couldn't know, could he? No, she decided. He didn't know. He might suspect, but he didn't know for certain. No one knew for certain except Grandpa Joe and Sodapop, and surely Soda wouldn't betray her like that …

The front door banged open, pulling Anna out of her worries and preventing Kathy from continuing the conversation. _Thank God_, she thought to herself as both she and Kathy turned to face whoever was coming in and, for the first time in a long time, Anna didn't even mind so much if it was her dad.

But she was still pleased to see it wasn't.

"Hey," she said cheerfully to Danny and Tim.

Tim nodded his greeting to them while Danny winked at Kathy and grinned at Anna.

"Those gonna be cheese scones?" he asked.

Anna nodded. "Of course."

Danny grinned again and turned to Kathy. "So, I hear you've got a big date this weekend?"

"What?" Anna asked, staring at Kathy who went red.

"It's just a date," she muttered.

"Just a date? Who with?"

"No one."

"No one?" Danny asked, and shook his head sadly. "Poor guy."

Anna grinned, and even Tim smirked.

"Must we really talk about this?" Kathy asked, dropping the spoon back in the bowl.

"Yes," Anna and Danny - who had always liked to tease Kathy - both said at the same time.

Kathy huffed. "Well, we're not," she said, standing up and glaring at Anna. "If we're not going to talk about what you don't want to talk about, then we ain't talking about this either!"

Anna nodded silently, willing to agree to anything that would keep Kathy off of their previous conversation.

"Jeez," Danny muttered, grabbing two beers out of the fridge before turning to Tim. "Girls, huh?"

"See you tomorrow," Kathy said, still red in the face, before walking very quickly out of the house.

"You scared her off," Anna said to Danny as soon as the door had shut behind Kathy.

Danny just grinned and started talking to Tim.

Going back to rolling out the dough, Anna watched Tim as stealthily as she could, glancing at him every few minutes. The guy had such a sixth sense about being watched that he had caught Anna out a few times in the past and sneaky glances were now the only way she could really check him out.

_Not that it even matters_, she thought to herself as she noticed how good he looked. It was still Steve she wanted.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading this. She's a star.

I hope you're all still enjoying this, and that it's not dragging too much for you. I know some characters (*cough-Steve-cough*) are taking their time in this fic, but I'm trying to make things realistic, not rushed. :) Reviews and con-crit are love.


	24. Stay

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Stay' by Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs

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Saturday, April 16th, 1966**

Music was blaring in the background, it was dark outside and, so far, the party Soda had thrown for him was going great.

The booze was flowing; Steve wasn't about to ask how, not entirely sure he actually wanted to know, but Two-Bit had managed to bring along a fairly healthy amount of Bud. That, mixed with what everyone else had brought along, and there wasn't much chance of alcohol running out anytime soon.

He wasn't planning on getting so completely soused that he passed out, though, just nicely buzzed. It might have been his seventeenth birthday, but Evie had made a few hints about the two of them _finally_ getting past second base that night, and he knew he had no chance of scoring with her if he got too smashed and passed out. And, really, what teenage guy would turn down a willing female body for a hangover?

Tuning out completely to Evie and Sylvia as they talked about something he had no interest in, Steve glanced around the front yard and through the living room window from his position on the porch. All his buddies had come; not just the gang. A bunch of the neighbourhood guys who didn't really belong to any gang had turned up, as well as most of the Shepard Gang, with the exception of Bobby Miller and Danny Harris.

In fact, apart from Miller and Harris, the only person missing was Anna. Steve found his gaze drifting to the gate of the Curtis' every few minutes, looking for her.

With their math test yesterday and no more tutoring scheduled until tomorrow evening, Steve hadn't had a chance to talk to Anna since Two-Bit had put the idea of her liking him into his head. All they had managed yesterday was a quick "Happy Birthday" from her and a "Thanks" from him before being quieted for the test. Because of this, he was no closer to figuring out whether she liked him or not.

Kathy had been no help either. She hadn't given him a yes or a no and the frown on her face when he had asked her about it could have meant anything. It could have been a _shit, how did he find out_ frown, or it could have been a _what the hell is he talking about_ kind of frown. Steve really had no idea.

"Great party, buddy!" Two-Bit cried as he came out the front door, some ditzy blonde hanging from his arm.

Steve just nodded and watched the two of them stumble around the side of the house.

After telling Two-Bit about his talk with Kathy, Steve had made Two-Bit promise not to say anything about Anna to her or any of the guys. Last thing he wanted was Dally and whoever he told taunting her about it. Not only that, but whatever the answer turned out to be, Steve felt like he needed to keep it to himself for now. Hell, not even Soda knew.

After sorting that out, Steve had reluctantly told Two-Bit about Kathy and her date that weekend. Two-Bit had shrugged it off, saying it simply meant she wouldn't be around to glare at him and whatever lucky lady he found himself with at the party.

Despite what his friend had said, Steve was pretty sure Two-Bit was more than a little pissed off about it.

A movement at the front gate caught his attention and he averted his gaze from the where Two-Bit had disappeared to see Anna pushing the gate open, balancing a large box in her hands.

"Be right back," he murmured. Evie just nodded and waved a hand dismissively.

Steve didn't know if it was the alcohol he had already consumed or the simple idea that _she_ might like _him,_ but he found himself raking his eyes over her body as he walked to meet her, unable to not notice how good she looked. He had found himself seeing her as cute only a few weeks ago, but looking at her then, in her go-go boots and short dress, Steve couldn't help but stare.

"Hey," she said, meeting him halfway up the path.

"You came."

She gave him a small smile. "'Course I did; I said I would."

"Yeah, but the party's been goin' almost two hours now. You're late."

"Sorry," she said, rolling her eyes and grinning. "But I had to wait for this to cool before I could ice it."

Steve took the box she handed him, passing her his beer so he didn't drop anything. He knew it was a cake, going from her icing comment, but he was surprised at both the size and décor of the cake.

"This is amazing," he said, staring at _Happy Birthday Steve!_ and the bits of candy decorating the icing.

Anna shrugged, but from the streetlight behind her and the light from the house, Steve could see her blush.

"Thanks," he said, really meaning it. "I ain't had a proper birthday cake since my mom died. Mrs. Curtis always used to make me one, but when they had cake for dessert a couple of nights a week anyway, it kinda lost its appeal."

"It's fine," she said, looking away and blushing harder when he held her gaze. "Really."

Steve nodded, still unsure but leaning more and more towards a yes, she did like him, every moment.

XXXXX

Anna glanced back up, wishing Steve would look away - or even go away - so she could attempt to control the untrustworthy blood that kept rushing to her face. But no, he just continued looking at her, and she was sure he was trying to figure her out. Did she like him? Or did she not?

She hadn't wanted to come tonight. She hadn't want to come and watch Steve and Evie be all cute and disgusting while she sat in the corner wallowing. She hadn't wanted to dress nice and put on that little bit of extra makeup you were expected to wear to parties, she especially hadn't wanted to come and continue making a fool out of herself, making it obvious to Steve that she did in fact like him.

But, it was Steve's birthday party and he had asked her to come; she couldn't say no.

"How about a drink?" he finally asked.

She nodded, despite her urge to simply get away from him.

They only made it up the front porch when Evie demanded to see the cake.

"Oh, it's perfect," she practically squealed.

"I'm just gonna stick it inside," Steve said. "Hopefully it won't get touched."

Anna smiled, saw her opportunity, and took it. Even knowing Steve would be with Evie seemed somewhat easier than being around Steve herself. Grabbing the box from him, she shoved the can of beer back in his hands, and walked past them.

"You stay here," she said. "It's your birthday party and you should be spendin' time with your girlfriend and friends, not worryin' about the cake."

Ignoring the look he gave her, she headed inside and wrestled her way through dancing couples and drinking teens, finally making it into the kitchen.

"You made it!" Sodapop said loudly, standing by the sink with Curly Shepard.

She grinned and nodded. "Hey, Curly."

Curly grinned back and handed her a beer as she cautiously placed the cake on the kitchen counter. She and Curly had always got along fairly well, despite the few years age difference. Unlike his sister, who thought of any girl with a decent rack as competition, and Tim, who didn't feel the need to really converse with a sixteen year old girl who had been crushing on him for years, Curly had always been friendly, chatty and, very recently, had begun to see anything with a decent rack as fair game.

"You're lookin' good tonight," he said with a smirk.

Anna smirked back and raised an eyebrow. "You're gettin' mouthier every time I see you, Curly."

"Not mouthier," he said with a grin, "more experienced. Speaking of which …" He trailed off, eyes trailing Anita Mort before his legs quickly followed.

Anna rolled her eyes and leaned against the kitchen counter next to Soda. She popped the tab on her drink and took a long mouthful, deciding it had been too long since she had been out and had fun.

"How's it goin'?" Soda asked, setting himself on the counter.

"Pretty good."

Soda snickered and continued quietly. "No, I mean how's it going with Steve?"

She glanced up at him. "Like a constant headache," she said truthfully.

"Have you decided what you're gonna do about it?"

"No." Placing the can and her hands on the counter, she lifted her self up next to Soda. "There ain't anythin' I can do but try and stop being such a fool around him."

"You could tell him."

Sodapop's eyes were completely empty of any amusement as he said this, and Anna had to wonder if Steve had told him that he knew … or that he thought he knew.

"Did he tell you?" she asked.

"Tell me what?"

She sighed. "He asked Kathy yesterday if I liked him. He's gonna figure it out pretty soon."

"I didn't know that," Soda said. "He didn't tell me."

Anna was relieved, only then realising she had been worried. "Well, at least I know that if he didn't tell you, he didn't tell anyone else."

Soda nodded, his eyes watching Shelley Winters lean over the dining room table, giving him a nice view down her blouse. "You could tell him, though."

"I don't know why the hell I'd wanna do that."

"If he's gonna find out anyway, you might as well be the one to tell him." Soda glanced at her. "You never know what his reaction'll be."

She had a fair idea. No matter what Steve thought of her, there was no way she could compete with Evie. He had wanted her back for so long, and now that he finally had her Anna knew he wouldn't let that go. Evie's tiny figure, bouncy curls, and dark exotic eyes sure didn't help matters.

Anna finished off her beer and jumped down from the counter. "I know it ain't gonna be the reaction I want it to be," she said. "Look, I'm gonna go find Two-Bit, or Curly, or someone. Why don't you go ask Shelley to dance?"

Soda grinned at her. "Come find me whenever."

XXXXX

It was getting late. People were either leaving, passed out on the front lawn, or pairing off into dark corners. The living room light had been turned off and - other than the sliver of light that came from the lamp post outside that Steve was standing under - couples were slow dancing mostly in dark.

The party had been great, and he was pretty sure everyone had had a good time … even Anna. At least, he thought she did. Every time his eyes had sought her out, which he had found to be quite regularly, she had seemed to be having fun; drinking, chatting or dancing with Sodapop, or George Silvers, or even Curly Shepard.

What he had found most interesting was that at least half the time his eyes had hunted her out, he had found her carefully watching him. Each time he had caught her looking she had blushed red, looked away, and taken a drink. The 'yes' Steve had been leaning towards earlier in the night was becoming more and more distinct, and he was starting to realise that he didn't at all mind. In fact, he sort of liked the idea of Anna liking him.

It wasn't that he liked her back; they were just friends and he had Evie, but the idea of Anna liking him was becoming more pleasing every time he thought about it.

Heading back toward the house, he wondered how long Evie would be gone. She was doing the "good friend" thing and walking Sylvia home after she had had gotten into a huge row with Dallas and demanded to go home. Steve had walked them both outside - ignoring the glares Sylvia liked to send at all males when she and Dallas were fighting - and told Evie he would see her in a bit, all the while wondering if he could use this as a chance to talk to Anna.

"Hey," he said to Two-Bit who was sitting on the porch smoking and drinking from a bottle of bourbon, "you seen Anna?"

Two-Bit gave a nod. "Inside."

Steve walked inside, squinting in the dark and through the haze from the smokers who had ventured inside, until he found Anna sitting almost right in front of him on the couch.

He plopped himself down next to her and grabbed her drink, taking a mouthful. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Havin' a good time?"

She smiled at him and Steve realised with a start that she had been doing that a lot lately. That lately there had been a lot less of her mad grins and a lot more genuine smiles; he wasn't sure if that was good or not, but found himself liking the smile she gave him right then.

"I should be askin' you that," she said as he handed her back her drink. "It's your party."

He nodded. "That's true. I know I'm having a good time, are you?"

"Yeah, of course." This time it was a grin she gave him and he could tell it was forced.

"Good."

They were silent for a bit, but Steve found himself really wanting to say something. He didn't know what, but he wanted to say something.

"Where's Evie?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Takin' Sylvia home - she should be back in about half an hour."

They were silent again and Steve found himself, once again, staring at her. Not in the obvious way, just glances her way every minute or two, but he knew she knew he was looking at her. A light blush crept up her face and she took another long drink.

"Dance with me." It came out as a statement and he thought it probably surprised him more than it did her. He hadn't been thinking it, it had just come out, probably due to the good buzz he had going on. But, now that he thought about it, he wanted to dance with her.

She snorted. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" he asked, grabbing her can again and placing it on the ground at his feet.

"I - well, I just don't …"

He stood up and held his hand out to her. "You know you ain't got a good answer for that."

She looked wildly at the dancers in front of them, slow dancing to the love songs that were always played as parties wound down and people paired off into dark corners. Her lower lip was being worried between her teeth and she looked absolutely tormented at the thought of getting up and dancing with him. Had he not been almost sure that she liked him, Steve would have been pissed.

Finally, she placed her hand in his, letting him pull her up and lead her into the middle of the living room amid the other dancers. As they got there and a reasonably upbeat Beach Boys song ended, Steve couldn't help but thank whoever was in charge of the record player for following it with "Stand by Me". He _wanted_ to slow dance with her.

Letting go of her hand, he placed his own on her waist and looked down at her as she stood stiffly in his arms, staring at the ground. She was uncomfortable. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to dance with her and hold her close. He didn't know why, but that's what he wanted.

Sliding his hands to her back, he pulled her close enough that their bodies touched and she had to put her hands on him. They landed on his biceps, and Steve figured that it was a start as the warmth from her small hands seeped through his black T-shirt.

"Hey," he said, voice low as he pushed a piece of hair back from her face.

She looked up at him and Steve didn't know what to make of the look in her eyes.

"Just relax," he continued and began swaying softly.

She looked away, as though having some kind of internal struggle with her own thoughts. He could understand that; he didn't know what was going on, or why he'd made her dance with him. All he knew was that he wanted to touch her.

Finally, she gave in to his words and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her soft curves closer to him. He fought back a moan at the contact.

Without thinking, he began trailing his hand up and down her back. The long, unhurried strokes barely skimmed the back of her dress, yet left his fingertips burning. She shivered in his arms, sighed, and seemed to melt against him.

Steve _knew_ he didn't like Anna the way he was now positive she liked him, but he couldn't help the way his body was reacting to her. In fact, it was taking all the strength he had not to make it obvious to her very close body just how much she was affecting him.

He was sure his reaction was because he and Evie still hadn't made it passed second base since getting back together. It wasn't his fault. Having a soft, warm and very feminine body pressed against him made all of his teenage hormones come to life. And considering how amazing he was realising Anna's body was, well, it was hardly surprising he wanted to pull her closer and push her away all at the same time.

Of course, being the red-blooded seventeen year old boy he was, he couldn't help but choose the pulling her closer option. Her body was now flush against his, and he couldn't help the solitary tingle that ran down his spine as Anna's warm breath caressed his neck.

All too soon, the song ended and Anna pulled away. He lifted his head from where it had been resting next to hers and looked at her through foggy eyes. He tightened his grip on her as she moved away from him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She shrugged, dropping her hands and looking around the room, at the floor, at the ceiling, anywhere but at him. "I might go find Soda, or Tim, maybe."

"Dance with me again."

"No."

"Why not?"

She finally looked at him and his breath caught. He had no clue, no fucking idea at all as to what she was thinking, but he knew he wanted to kiss her.

"Because," she said, staring straight at him, "your girlfriend'll be back any minute and I don't think she'd appreciate you dancin' this close with someone else - her cousin or not."

Steve dropped his hands immediately, a strange mix of guilt, annoyance and confusion washing over him. He didn't know what to make of any of it, and stood stock still as Anna walked away from him. He might not _like_ her, but glory he wanted her.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta reading.

Reviews = love, people. I appreciate them always :)


	25. Fake It

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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**Sunday, April 17th, 1966**

Anna was hung-over, tired, and grumpy.

Getting home sometime after one in the morning, she had slept fitfully for almost five hours before showering and starting on a batch of shortbread cookies. Personally, she couldn't stand shortbread, but Danny seemed to love them.

Now, as the shortbread baked and she started on a scone mix, her mood was getting more and more irritable. It was all she could do to concentrate on what she was doing and not everything that had happened last night. Of course it didn't work.

_Just relax_, he had said. Just _relax_? Anna glared at the counter she was working on. She could have killed him for those words, no matter how well they had eventually worked. Just relax … it was easy for him to say; _he_ hadn't been very quickly turning to jelly in the arms of the person he most wanted.

But, she had relaxed. She had become a trembling mess as she had leaned against him, but she had relaxed and had relished the touch of his hand as it just barely touched her. It had been his hands that had made her relax; the way they had touched her. She had known the memory of them would torture her over the next few days and figured she might as well make the torture worth it.

Whether or not it was worth it was something she was still trying to figure out. His touch, the way he had held her, the way he had looked at her when she'd pulled back … it all made it worth it as it happened. But he was Evie's boyfriend, he was making her heart ache, he was -

"Oh!"

Anna looked up in surprise at the familiar female voice that came from the kitchen doorway.

"Kathy?"

She went red, redder than Anna had ever seen her before. "Hey."

Taking in her complete appearance of disheveled clothes, rumpled hair, and embarrassed blush, Anna quickly came to understand.

"Oh my -"

"Morning," Danny called, walking into the kitchen in his jeans, scratching his bare chest and yawning.

Anna swallowed. "Good morning. You're up awful early," she commented as politely as she could.

"Yeah," he smirked at her, "spent most of the night in."

Anna glared at her brother before making a gagging motion.

"I'm just gonna go," Kathy said, getting more embarrassed by the second.

Danny turned to look at her, and Anna watched, eyes widening in fascination, as he walked over to Kathy and placed a hand on her hip.

"Just let me grab a shower," he said. "I'll give ya a ride."

Kathy nodded and glanced at Anna as he left. Anna stared back, half amused, half disgusted, and unsure which to go with.

"Ew," she finally said.

"It just happened," Kathy said, rushing forward.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "You mean you went on a date and just happened to end up spending the night with my brother?"

"Ha ha," Kathy said, sarcastically. "The date was with your brother."

"How the hell did that happen?"

Kathy shrugged. "Well, when I broke up with Two-Bit the other week, I came here afterwards, but you were at tutoring with Steve and only Danny was home. Anyway, I was a mess, and Danny was real good about it, ya know? He let me cry, and told me that Two-Bit was an idiot for not seein' what was right in front of him."

Anna smiled a little and felt a surge of pride at how good her brother had been to Kathy. Not many older brothers would look after their little sister's best friend while she cried about some boy.

"Then he called me Wednesday night and asked me out," Kathy continued as they heard the grinding noise the shower made as it turned off. "It was totally out of the blue; I hadn't even seen him since the day I broke up with Two-Bit, but I still said yes. Then one thing led to another and we -"

"Yeah, okay, I think I get it," Anna interrupted. "I'm glad you're lookin' happier, but I don't need that much detail … he's my brother after all."

"Oh, yeah."

"So are you guys together now?"

Kathy shook her head. "No, we're just … having a good time. Nothin' serious."

Anna nodded; so long as neither of them got hurt in the process, she didn't want to know anything of the "good time" they were going to have. Thankfully, Danny chose that moment to walk back in, freshly showered and cleanly clothed.

"So," Anna began, hoping to get back at Danny for grossing her out, "are you two in _love_ now?"

Kathy went red, and Danny grinned.

"Well, I don't know about _love_," he said, slinging his arm around Kathy's shoulders. "But we're certainly having fun."

"Ew," Anna said again, not sure there was any other word for it.

"How was the party?" Kathy asked, changing the subject.

Anna shrugged and went back to the scone mix. "Pretty good."

"Musta been alright," Danny said. "I didn't hear you come in till after one, and ya look like shit."

"Gee, thanks."

Of course she looked terrible; she had hardly slept and had drunk way too much.

After walking away from Steve the night before, she had been persuaded by Sodapop to finish the half full bottle of bourbon he had snapped from a passed out Two-Bit's dangling fingertips.

Quickly coming to the conclusion that getting completely wasted was exactly what she had needed right then, she had let Soda lead her to the chain link fence in the front yard and - sitting on the overgrown lawn, backs against the fence and facing the ongoing party - they had finished most of what was left in the bottle.

However, she quickly decided against telling Danny that.

"Did Steve like his cake?" Kathy asked, and Anna was sure her friend was watching her closely as she waited for an answer.

"Yeah, he seemed to," she said.

Though, right then, Anna couldn't care less whether Steve liked his stupid cake or not. Not after the mixed signals he had given her at the party last night; spending the night talking and kissing with Evie, then dancing with Anna the way he had, before making out with Evie on the couch on the porch and shooting strange glances her way. She had hated seeing the two of them together like that, fairly certain she knew exactly what else they probably planned to do later.

She swallowed back bile at the thought.

Anna was sick of it and had begun to question just how good of a friend Steve was. It seemed to her as though he had figured out that she did like him and had decided to use it against her.

Deep down she knew that wasn't the case, that Steve wasn't like that, but it was the only thing that made any sense. He didn't like her, not the way she liked him; he had made that very clear with the way he had been all over Evie.

"Oi! You home in there, Miss B?"

Anna looked up at her brother, frowned for a moment, and then grinned.

"Yes. I was just thinkin' how glad I am that I won't have to see Ruth Goodall around here anymore."

XXXXX

Steve sat on the Curtis' porch with the rest of the gang - bar Two-Bit who was wandering around inside, still half asleep - and dug into the scrambled eggs Darry had made as a late lunch. Having already thrown back two aspirin he was hoping his headache would calm before meeting with Anna later that night.

"Mornin'," Two-Bit mumbled, pushing open the screen door and stumbling out to sit with them.

"Afternoon," Steve corrected.

Two-Bit shrugged, sat down on the porch, and lit up.

"Pass us one of those will ya, Two-Bit?" Dally said from above them.

Two-Bit chucked him the pack before looking at Steve, his bleary eyed look quickly turning into a wicked grin.

"Seein' Evie today?" he asked.

Steve groaned. "After the way I acted last night? Probably not."

"Aw, man," Soda said, laughing loudly. "I thought it was obvious what she meant when she said she wanted to give ya another present."

Steve ran a hand through his hair. Ponyboy and Johnny were both going red on the bottom step but he didn't care.

"It was obvious," he said.

And it had been. The first thing Evie had said to him upon returning last night was that she had another gift she wanted to give him later and not to get too drunk. By this time, almost half an hour had passed since the dance with Anna that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about, and because of that, Steve was already on his way towards getting too drunk.

It wasn't right. He knew he shouldn't have been thinking about Anna the way he had been, but he couldn't help it. Even after her warm body had pulled away from his and he had calmed himself down, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.

"You're gonna be lucky if you ever score with her again," Dally said, matching Two-Bit's evil grin.

Steve sighed; just glad the guys didn't know he had yet to score with Evie since being back with her. "I know."

"But, in his defence, it was his seventeenth birthday and getting soused was to be expected," Soda said.

Dally snorted. "Yeah, but so was getting laid."

Steve was glad Soda was standing up for him. Though, in truth, it was the thought of having sex with Evie while not being able to stop thinking about Anna that had led him to drinking until he passed out. Already drinking to try and forget Anna when Evie had arrived, Steve had simply upped the drinking, not wanting to deal with that kind of situation.

Not that thinking of Anna in that way was off-putting; far from it. Steve knew he didn't _like_ Anna, but there was no denying that he was attracted to her. So attracted, that she had played a major part in his drunken dreams last night … or that morning.

"Okay," Darry said, standing up. "Pony, you and me are on dishes, come on."

Steve noticed that, for once, Ponyboy didn't complain at Darry telling him what to do, just got up, still red faced and followed Darry inside, Johnny on their trail.

"I'm gonna go," Dally said, throwing away his smoke butt. "Go see if Sylvia's over herself yet."

"Me too," Two-Bit said. "A few more hours sleep in a bed rather than the floor sounds pretty good."

Steve smirked, and watched as Dally and Two-Bit left, Two-Bit stumbling the whole way His eyes narrowed as he realised he and Soda had been left alone.

It wasn't that he was annoyed with his best friend, just a bit confused about his relationship with Anna. Come the end of their dance last night, Steve had been sure, a hundred percent positive in fact, that Anna liked him. The way she had practically turned to jelly in his arms, the look she had given him when she had pulled away, and her comment about Evie, all led him to one conclusion: that she liked him, wanted him.

But then, after Evie had come back, he had seen her with Soda.

"So, you had a good time last night?" Soda asked after a few minutes silence.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, you?"

"Great time," Soda said with a grin.

"You and Anna seem to dig each other pretty well."

"She's a lot of fun," Soda agreed.

"What did you guys talk about?"

Soda looked at him and smiled. "Not much really," he said. "Just jokin' around."

Steve nodded and lit a cigarette. He had seen them joking around. He had also seen them talking quietly, heads close so as not to be overheard. He had caught Anna glancing at him less and less as the night progressed and she chatted to Soda, and he had found himself drunkenly making out with Evie to take his mind off of her. That wasn't right; you weren't supposed to make out with your own girlfriend to take you mind off of another broad.

But, in watching the two of them, seeing them leave together so Soda could walk her home, he had come to think that maybe Anna didn't like him; maybe she liked Sodapop. It would make more sense. They had always gotten along well and flirted a little on all those stupid double dates. She had asked for Soda to walk her home when she hadn't been feeling well at the Nightly Double, and the way she had been acting around Steve could have been because she was crushing on his best friend and was embarrassed about it.

It didn't explain her reaction to him during and after their dance, but it still made more sense that she would like Soda rather than him.

"She's a great girl," Soda continued, watching him.

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

"Does it bother you?" Soda continued.

Steve kept his face blank. "Does what bother me?"

"Me and Anna gettin' along so well."

"No." _Yes._

"Good." Soda grinned. "'Cause I was thinkin' of asking her out."

Steve jerked his head around to face Soda. "Like … on a date?"

Soda nodded, scarfing down his eggs. "Pretty much. I mean, now that you got Evie back I think I need myself a girl to hang out with, too, and Anna's cool."

"What about Shelley?" Steve asked. "I'm sure I saw the two of you sneaking behind the tool shed after you got back from walkin' Anna home."

In fact, Steve knew he had seen Sodapop lead Shelley Winters behind the tool shed. Steve had been curious as to whether or not anything had happened between Soda and Anna up until that point; Soda was hardly the kind of person to do anything with more than one chick in one night and, according to Dally, it had been a couple of hours before Soda and Shelley had come back out.

"Na," Soda said. "Shelley's stuck on that Rob guy from Brumly. Plus, I think me and Anna'd be real good together."

Steve still didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to think.

"But if it's gonna be a problem -"

"No problem," Steve said quickly. "No problem at all."

And it really wasn't. Why would it be? He didn't like Anna, he was with Evie. Anna and Soda were free to do as they wished.

XXXXX

Anna knocked on the panel of wood next to the screen door and noticed how well they had all done in cleaning the place up. After the mess from the night before, she was surprised that the Curtis household looked so tidy.

"Hello? Oh, hi," Ponyboy said, coming out of the dining room.

"Hey, is Soda home?" she asked. "I forgot to give him back his jacket last night."

She held up the leather jacket Soda had let her wear while he had walked her home the night before.

"Anna, hey," Soda said, coming out from behind Ponyboy and walking up to her.

"How you feelin' today?" she asked him with a grin.

He laughed and stepped outside with her. "I'll admit I probably had a bit too much to drink last night."

Anna grinned. "Considering you hardly ever drink I'd assume you'd be feeling pretty bad today," she laughed. "Anyway, this is yours."

Soda took the offered jacket. "You didn't have to bring this over," he said. "You coulda just given it to Steve at school tomorrow."

"Well, I'm heading to Steve's anyway," she said, heart sinking at the thought of it. "Your place is pretty much on the way."

"Listen," he said, stepping closer. "Do ya wanna go out tomorrow night?"

Anna frowned. "What?"

"Out. Like a burger at the Dingo or a movie or somethin'."

Anna wasn't quite sure where this was going; Soda knew how she felt about Steve.

"Nothing serious," he continued, seeming to realise she was confused. "I mean, we'll call it a date because in a way it is, but we had fun hanging out last night and it seemed to take your mind off of Steve … plus if he thinks you're going out with someone else he'll stop thinkin' you like him."

Anna nodded. Soda had a point there. She had made it pretty obvious the last few days that she liked Steve. If she could change that by hanging out with Soda, or "dating" then she would.

"Okay," she said. "We'll go out tomorrow."

XXXXX

Steve glanced at the footpath again. Anna was late. Less than five minutes late, but that wasn't the point. The point was she was late and he was wondering if she was going to skip out on tutoring like she had in the past.

Finally, he heard footsteps approach and, again, looked toward the footpath. He had figured seeing Anna that evening would be like a test. Not just as to whether she liked him or Soda, but also whether or not he really was as attracted to her as he had thought he was.

He'd decided that the buzz he'd had going on when he had danced with her and the hangover he'd had that morning might very well have contributed to his less than appropriate thoughts about Anna and her body.

But there was only one way to find out.

Unfortunately, as soon as he caught sight of her, he knew that the alcohol had nothing to do with anything. Watching her walk up the path to the porch, Steve's fingers tingled with the idea of touching her and he suddenly remembered the last time he had sat where he was and thought something similar. The memory of the soft skin of her cheek that had been overshadowed by the almost kiss caused him to frown as he looked at her.

So he was attracted to her and was feeling more stirs of attraction for her than he had been for his own girlfriend. It didn't mean anything and the only reason he was feeling more of a pull towards her and not Evie was because she was new, he had never had her before.

Steve scowled and looked at the ground. The only reason it bothered him so much was because she was Evie's cousin. She was Anna.

"Hey," she said when she reached him, glancing at him then looking away.

He looked up slowly, as subtly as he could, taking in her in entire body. Oh yeah, he was definitely attracted to her. He looked away again, rubbing his knuckles.

"Hey."

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Sure."

"You seem a bit … gloomy."

Steve raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "I seem gloomy?"

"Yeah, like, not sad, just gloomy."

"Right, well, we should get started," he said, standing up and starting inside. "You're late so we shouldn't waste time."

She blushed. "Sorry, I had to stop at Soda's."

He turned and looked at her. "You stopped at Soda's?"

"Yeah. I still had his jacket."

"You still had his jacket."

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?" she asked, brow furrowed. "Because it's really annoying."

He smirked. Her legs and short skirt were killing him, if he could bother her the way she was unwittingly bothering him then it would at least make _him_ feel better.

"How'd it go at Soda's?" he asked.

He tried being as casual as possible, but was wondering if Soda had asked her out yet. Not that he cared; it was only Anna's body he wanted, not the whole package.

"Good." She paused. "He kinda asked me out."

"He did, huh?"

"Yeah. Like, on a date," she continued, looking directly at him.

"What did ya say?" he asked, not sure what he wanted her answer to be.

She shrugged. "I said yes."

Steve nodded. So she liked Soda. He wasn't sure how the fuck he had got those signals mixed up but there was the evidence. Quickly he grinned at her, saying the only thing that came to mind that wasn't nasty.

"You know this means more double dates right?

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please review - concrit is so very welcome :)


	26. Under My Skin

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Under My Skin' by Gin Wigmore.

**

* * *

Tuesday, April 19th, 1966**

"Listen, kid," Danny began as he drove Anna to school on Tuesday morning, "You sure you're okay with me datin' Kathy?"

Anna gave him an amused frown. "You never cared if I was okay with who you dated before."

"Yeah, well, I ain't ever dated your best friend before," he said.

"That's true."

"So? Is it all right or are you just waitin' for the perfect moment to start on me about it?" he asked with a smirk.

Anna pursed her lips. She supposed she should feel a little weird about Danny and Kathy dating, especially after telling Steve she felt weird about him dating Evie, but she didn't. She just wanted both her brother and Kathy to be happy and if that meant being with each other for however long they lasted, then so be it.

Plus she was sick of thinking about other peoples love lives when her own was so bad.

"It's fine," she said. "So long as you don't go messin' around on each other."

Danny had the nerve to look offended. "As if I would go messin' around on someone, 'specially someone as sweet as Kathy."

Anna laughed. "Cut the crap," she said. "You're just as bad at goin' back to Ruth as Kathy is when it comes to Two-Bit."

"Maybe," he said. "But me and Kathy both know we ain't nothin' serious."

Anna figured she was probably imagining things, but she was sure she could hear a silent '_for now_' come after that, and wondered just how much her brother really liked Kathy.

"Speaking of dating," he said, before she could ponder it too much, "I heard you weren't exactly out alone last night, Miss B."

Anna sighed. She hadn't bothered telling Danny about her "date" with Soda. It still felt strange to think of it as a date, but she supposed that, as Soda had said, that's what it was, even if they both knew it wasn't real.

"No, I wasn't out alone last night," she said, refusing to give any information up that easily.

"Who were ya with?"

"You already know damn well who I was with." Anna rolled her eyes at her brother's attempt at ignorance.

"I do, but Soda Curtis?" Danny glanced at her as he sped up to make a green light. "Really, Anna, I thought ya had better taste than that?"

"What's wrong with Soda?"

"Well, nothin's wrong with him," Danny said. "He just don't really seem your type."

Anna smirked. "Have you _seen_ Sodapop?" she asked. "I'm not sure he's not anyone's type."

"Exactly," Danny said. "Sure, he's a good guy and all, and I know he can come through in a fight, but he's so …"

"Gorgeous?" Anna offered with a grin.

Danny looked disgusted. "For lack of a better word."

"And gorgeous _isn't_ my type?" She had no idea where Danny was going with this conversation.

"I dunno, maybe it is. I just figured your type was less -" he seemed to have to force the word out "- gorgeous - and more … tough."

Tough. Anna immediately pictured someone with dark curly hair, a busted open hand, and oil stains on his face.

"Soda's tough," she mumbled.

"Hey." Danny pulled into the school parking lot and stopped the car. "You don't gotta convince me; I've seen the guy fight, I know he's tough. But, I still didn't see him as your type."

"Because he's good looking?" Anna was confused as hell. The last time they had talked about Anna and boys Danny had been warning her off anyone like Bobby Miller and here she was "dating" the complete opposite and Danny was telling her he wasn't her type?

"And happy," Danny said.

"Ah yes, because my perfect man is a down in the dumps, balding ogre."

"Funny," he said, and turned to her. "I just mean that you're so different. He's always pretty damn friendly and cheerful, while you're more sarcastic and don't deny you sometimes pretend to be annoyingly happy just to piss people off."

Anna felt a pang; her fake cheerfulness had once been her best tool at pissing off Steve when they had hated each other and she, once again, found herself wishing things were as easy now as they were then.

"I just see ya doin' better with someone more like you." He paused. "To be honest, I woulda seen you fallin' for Randle before Curtis."

"Steve?" she practically squeaked his name as her stomach flipped.

"Yeah. You two managed to get over all that bullshit fighting," he said. "Seemed like you even got a little close."

"Me and Steve ain't close."

"Coulda fooled me."

"What would you know?" Anna snapped.

"I know you went to him after dad hit ya."

"So?" She crossed her arms over her chest and knew she looked like a sulking child.

"So you must've trusted him some to do that. You coulda walked the twenty minutes more to Kathy's or even the thirty seconds more to -" again he had to force the word out "Two-Bit Mathews, who you've always been friends with and who would've looked after ya just like Randle did."

Anna didn't bother mentioning that Two-Bit had been out drinking that night; she didn't want to admit just how much of it she had put to memory.

"Anyway," Danny turned back in his seat, "it ain't up to me who ya date; I'm just sayin' is all."

Anna huffed. "Whatever," she said and climbed out the car, slamming the door behind her.

XXXXX

Steve glanced up as Anna made her way into their math classroom before looking away again and scowling. This warmer weather was killing him. Though it wasn't so much the warm weather as it was the way the warm weather was making Anna seem more and more appetizing.

For instance, he had just recently realised that the way she had occasionally worn her hair up during math classes had become a more common occurrence over the last week or so. Turned out it not only gave him an unbelievable view of her smooth neck and throat, but also managed to send out the fragrance of the summery scented perfume she had taken to wearing. Plus, she was no longer wearing a sweater over her blouse, and Steve couldn't help the way his eyes automatically focused on the curves of her chest before sailing down to the shorter skirt that had replaced the slightly longer ones she wore in winter.

Steve swallowed audibly as she sat down, remembering the short skirt and the way she had readjusted herself in her seat yesterday - effectively showing him the lace edge of her stockings - and he found himself having to readjust himself just thinking about it.

"Morning," she said.

He grunted in reply and she gave him a look. Thankfully, Mr. Chase began roll call before she could say anymore.

So he was attracted to her … big fucking deal. There were plenty of girls he found good looking; his own girlfriend for one. He pushed back the fact that he still found the idea of touching Anna more of a turn on than touching his own girlfriend, and completely ignored the fact that he would rather do anything with Anna - sexual or not - more than he would with his own girlfriend.

Evie was great and he still really liked her, but he was finding himself less interested in doing anything with her every day. But he didn't think that had anything to do with Anna; it was just him and Evie and their not so great relationship.

Mr. Chase finished his roll call and Steve began on the worksheet they had been given yesterday, turning himself slightly away from Anna. He didn't want to talk to her, he didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to smell her.

He couldn't help himself.

"How was your date?" he said, turning back to face her.

He hadn't managed to ask Sodapop about it that morning with everyone else hanging around, but planned to when he popped into the DX at lunch. But, he wouldn't mind getting some kind of reaction from Anna first.

"It was good," she said, glancing at him. "We just went to the Dingo and hung out for a while."

Steve nodded. "So ya had a good time?"

"Yes."

The conversation seemed to end there so Steve went back to his worksheet feeling annoyed. He wanted to know what had happened, yet at the same time, the thought of knowing too much made him feel a little ill.

It wasn't like he was jealous. He thought Anna was sexy, that was it. He supposed the idea of his best friend and another friend doing anything physical kind of grossed him out and wondered if that was how Anna had felt when he and Evie had gotten back together.

A constant tapping brought him back to what was going on around him as Anna tapped her pencil on the table and bit her lower lip. Steve glared. The tapping was pissing him off to no end, but all he wanted to do was take the lip she was nibbling on and do it for her.

"Fuck," he swore softly.

She looked at him. "What?"

He hardened his glare. "You and your goddamn tapping, that's what."

"Sorry," she muttered, "I didn't realise you were in such a bad mood today."

_Well you should,_ Steve thought silently, _it's your fault._ He decided then and there that it really was her fault. The way she had reacted while dancing with him had made it her fault. He wouldn't be having all these thoughts about her if she hadn't responded to his touch the way she had.

"I'm in a bad mood? You're the one who doesn't wanna talk to me."

She blushed and he took an evil kind of pleasure in it. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Bullshit. I tried to make conversation and ya shut me off almost right away," he paused, remembering. "Same thing happened yesterday, too."

And when it had happened yesterday it had made him even more positive that she had liked Soda all along. The way he had seen it, she had Sodapop now so she didn't need Steve anymore.

Anna was gaping at him and Steve raised an eyebrow.

"What's your problem?" she asked. "We're supposed to be friends; why are you tryin' to start a fight with me?"

Steve didn't have an answer for that one. He had decided that everything was her fault and could admit that it pissed him off that she didn't want to talk to him now that she had Soda, but he knew he was being an idiot. His attraction to her was just as much his doing as it was hers. It wasn't as if she had control over the dirty thoughts he had been having about her.

"Yeah," he muttered, not willing to actually apologise. "Guess I'm just in a bad mood."

Her face softened a little. "Is everything alright?"

He wanted to kiss her. The concerned frown on her face, the worry in her eyes and the kindness in her voice did nothing but make him want to kiss her _and_ make him want to punch his own head in at the completely gushy and pathetic thought.

He briefly wondered if his want - his _need_ - for her would leave once he kissed her. All he wanted was one taste and, if he could just get his fill, then maybe he would get over it and stop wanting her.

He lowered his eyes back to her lower lip that was slightly swollen due to the way she had been worrying it between her teeth. He licked his lips and swallowed; his breath deepening as he considered just leaning forward and capturing her lip between his. He glanced up, noticing her flushed face, and for once found himself unable to read her expression.

"Steve?" Her voice came out as an uncertain, breathy whisper and he almost groaned.

He shook his head and turned away. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

"You sure?" she asked.

He nodded. Of course, nothing was fine, but he just had to deal with that.

XXXXX

Later that day, Anna was sitting at Grandpa Joe's kitchen table when a horn outside blared. She picked up her books and got to her feet.

"Who's picking ya up?" Grandpa Joe asked, getting up to walk her to the door.

"Just a friend," she said.

"Oh yeah?" Grandpa Joe raised an eyebrow as he opened the front door for her, and glanced out at the pick-up parked by the driveway. "What's his name?"

She grinned. "Sodapop Curtis."

"Sodapop?" Grandpa Joe frowned. "What the hell kinda name is that?"

Anna laughed. "There ain't anything wrong with his name."

"I guess." Grandpa Joe shrugged before a puzzled look came over his face. "He your boyfriend?"

"No. Well, he's a boy, but not my boyfriend," she said.

"Still stuck on Steve, huh?"

Anna swallowed and nodded. She had done her best to keep all conversation with her grandpa firmly away from Steve Randle simply because she was sick of thinking about him and wanted to distract herself by thinking and talking about other things.

Grandpa Joe grunted and put his arm around Anna's shoulders, squeezing her briefly. "He'll come around."

Anna felt a lump in her throat as she quickly hugged her grandpa back and headed for the pick-up Soda was driving. It wasn't the thought of Steve that had her closer to tears than she had been in a long time, or even Grandpa Joe's kind words; it had been the short but sweet half hug he had given her.

He had never been one to give out physical affection, even with his grandkids. Anna had always had to initiate all hugs and cheek kisses which had always appeared to be grudgingly accepted, but she was sure were always secretly wanted.

Having her Grandpa hug her like that had pretty much made up for the shitty last few days.

"Hey," she said happily as she climbed into the truck. "Thanks for pickin' me up."

"No problem," Soda replied.

"You sure?"

Soda grinned. "Yep. I wasn't about to make you bus here and back when I was perfectly able to give ya a ride."

She had mentioned visiting her grandpa when she and Soda were out last night and when she and Kathy had stopped in at the DX while skipping fourth period typing class, Soda had offered to pick her up that evening to save her from bussing at night. Anna had said thanks but no thanks at first, but Sodapop had seemed insistent and she had eventually given in. Soda was fun and talkative and had an uncanny ability to keep her mind mostly off of Steve so she had figured _why not?_

Only, even with his happy chatter, she was having a hard time thinking about anything other than Steve. She had survived two days of math and not really speaking to him due to working on their assignments, but now she was on her way to tutoring with him and she would have to speak to him.

She was still confused as to what was going on. In hindsight, it seemed as though nothing had changed between them. Sure, she was hanging out with Soda now, but Steve was still with Evie; he had shown no hint of possibly feeling something for her since their dance. They were still just friends.

But, in reality, something definitely had changed and she didn't know what it was. Things had changed for her a while ago, but now things had changed _between_ them and it was obvious. She didn't know if it was because she was, in a way, "dating" Sodapop, or if Steve had figured out from her blatant obviousness during their dance that she did in fact like him, or if it was something else completely.

Whatever it was, it was making things really uncomfortable between them.

"You okay?" Soda asked and Anna focused her mind back on her surroundings, noticing they were already in their neighbourhood and would be at Steve's any moment.

"Absolutely," she said, forcing a grin.

Soda pulled up outside Steve's place and Anna looked at it to find Steve, as usual, sitting outside waiting for her. The look on his face as he saw them was one she didn't understand, but she certainly recognised it from years of doing whatever she could to make him angry.

"Have fun," Soda said with a grin as she grabbed her books and climbed out of the pick-up.

Anna rolled her eyes at Soda's attempt at humour, and walked up the path to meet Steve. She could hear Soda speeding off down the street and wished for a moment that he could have stayed for a while. She didn't want to be alone with Steve and the awkwardness that had been between them lately, yet at the same time she wanted nothing more than to be alone with Steve.

"Such an idiot," she muttered to herself before reaching Steve and saying, "Hey."

"How's it goin'?"

Anna bit her lip. Steve's eyes were hard and cold as he watched her and she suddenly felt like it was two months ago and he still hated her. She narrowed her eyes, forcing any hurt to the back of her mind; she may be completely besotted by him and she may have, just that very morning, thought Steve being a jerk and treating her like shit again might make things easier for her, but now that he seemed to be doing it, she didn't want him to. It felt horrible and she refused to let him.

"It's going good," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and not missing the way his eyes flicked away from hers and toward her chest for a split second. She smirked, he might not like her the way she wanted him to, but he obviously still realised she was a girl.

"I didn't realise Soda was plannin' on driving all the way to your place to pick ya up just to bring you here," he said sarcastically.

"He didn't. I was at my Grandpa's; he picked me up from there."

"Well, that's even better," he muttered as he stood from the porch steps.

Anna raised an eyebrow, hating that the exact weird unpleasantness she had just been thinking about was already showing its ugly face.

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

Steve glared at her. "Soda had to leave school after his parents died so he could help out with the bills," he said.

"I know that."

"Right. But you still made him drive twenty minutes to pick you up just so you didn't have to bus? That's pretty fucking selfish, Anna."

Anna could feel her face getting hot but for once didn't care. "What the hell is your problem?" she asked. "I never asked Soda to come pick me up. In fact, I told him not to but he insisted."

Steve shook his head and sneered at her. "Whatever."

Anna didn't know what else to say; not only had she not really done anything wrong, but Steve had managed to make her feel bad anyway. Sure, she probably should have thought about Soda and the gas he would be using to pick her up, but she still didn't deserve this hostility from Steve.

"I'm gonna go," she said as he turned to go up the steps.

"What?" he half turned back towards her.

"I'm gonna go home." She gave a half shrug, her chest hurting. "I didn't come here to have you go off on me for nothin', or to have you pick another fight with me."

Steve said nothing, just stared at her through his narrowed eyes.

"We're supposed to be friends," she reminded him again, before turning away.

She didn't get it, not at all. She had spent the last few weeks wanting to be with Steve yet being kind of distant at the same time - wondering if he were to become a jerk again if things would get easier. Now he was being a jerk, and she was sick of trying to distance herself from him. She just wanted to be with him, despite his mood.

"Wait."

She hadn't even heard him following her down the path until she heard his voice and he grabbed her arm.

"Just … wait," he said as she turned to face him.

"For what?"

He gave her a look and she was sure her heart skipped a beat as he stared down at her. She unconsciously licked her lips as her pulse sped up and Steve's warm hand slid down her arm to loosely wrap around her wrist, burning her skin in the most delicious way. She could feel her face heating up again, but with the way he way looking at her, she just didn't care.

Finally he shook his head and frowned. "I don't know … I guess I'm just having a bad day."

She sighed. "And taking it out on me?"

"I guess," he said, shrugging. "Look, just don't go, okay? Come inside and we'll start on some homework and I swear I won't start another fight."

The hard look was gone from his eyes and he was staring at her so intently that Anna had to look away, unsure of what to do. She wanted to stay - to be there with him even though she wasn't _with_ him - but she hated being around him if he was going to be a jerk and take his bad mood out on her.

It wasn't until she glanced at her arm and realised the warmth on her wrist was because he still hadn't let her go that she made her decision. She looked at it and sighed as Steve seemed to feel her gaze and drop it. There was a moment's awkwardness, but there really was no decision to be made when he was touching any part of her, even in the most nonsexual way possible.

Taking a breath, she nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please review.


	27. You're Mine

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or the song 'You're Mine' by Potential Bad Boy ft Yush.

**

* * *

Saturday, April 23rd, 1966**

Steve stood inside the DX watching his buddy flirt with Anna. He wanted to say that he didn't understand the attraction, that he didn't get why Soda was always talking about her and flirting with her whenever he saw her, but he understood all too well.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it. He had come to admit to himself that he found Anna attractive and felt a bit uneasy about her dating Soda, but that didn't mean he had to like it - or that his admitting it had made things any better between the two of them.

They had continued to argue for most of the week. Not major fights like they used to have, but fights none the less; about completely trivial things that just made the fighting even more stupid than it already was.

Steve was just thankful that the fights never lasted. One was just as stubborn as the other, but Anna always seemed to get fed up with him first and refuse to fight with him anymore. Steve would grudgingly agree and things would be fine again … at least until the next time they saw each other.

Sighing, he turned away from watching the two of them joke and chat, wishing that the DX hadn't been short staffed that day so that he could have had his lunch break with Soda like he normally did. Perhaps if he was outside with them, they wouldn't make such a show of how happy they were.

But then he and Anna would have simply started arguing again and Soda would have had even more reason to question Steve about her. A glare entered his eyes as he remembered coming into the DX on Tuesday and asking Soda about his date.

"It was cool," Soda had said. "We just went to the Dingo and hung out for a bit."

That was almost exactly what Anna had told him and Steve had both wanted and not wanted to ask for more details. He wanted to know everything that happened, but hated the idea of there being details.

"That's it?" he had asked, running his comb through his hair.

Soda had given him a long look before shrugging. "For now."

"So, you two are together?"

"Nothin's official," Soda had said, raising an eyebrow and staring at Steve intently. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, of course not," Steve had scoffed, not liking the knowing looking Soda's eyes.

Reaching around, he grabbed his comb out of his back pocket, running it through his hair a few times and looking back outside. He wasn't jealous; just like he had told Soda; he had nothing to be jealous of. He liked Anna as a friend and thought she was cute. Well, maybe more than _cute_, but that didn't mean anything. It just meant that he felt strange about a girl he really wanted to be with, physically being with his best buddy.

What was worse was that Soda seemed to know. Steve didn't know what he seemed to know, exactly, but he seemed to know that Steve didn't feel good about them being together. Steve felt pretty bad about that. Soda had had a tough year with his parents dying and Steve wanted him to be happy - even if being happy meant being with Anna.

XXXXX

Late that afternoon Anna was sitting on the front porch reading her book for English when Danny's car pulled up and her brother stumbled out of the passenger side. She glanced up to look at him, worry flowing through her at the look on his busted up face as Tim Shepard helped him up the path.

The black eye and split lip had happened the night before, courtesy of Two-Bit who had finally found out who Kathy was dating and decided to have it out with him. Anna had been furious, but not surprised, and had been glad to find out that Two-Bit hadn't come out any better than her brother. Word had it that Soda and Steve had broken the fight up before things could get too bad.

But, the look on Danny's face as he made his way up to her and the fact that he was more than half-crocked before five o'clock in the evening was something she couldn't recall ever seeing on him before. She was more than a little curious to know what had happened.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, standing up and walking towards them.

Tim sighed. "Which answer do you want first?"

"I'm not sure what that means," she said, "but I don't like the sound of it."

They made their way inside and Danny flopped himself down at the kitchen table. "Get me a beer, will ya," he said.

Anna frowned and looked at Tim who nodded. Grabbing two beers out of the fridge she handed one to Danny and one to Tim before sitting opposite her brother.

"I ended things with Kathy," he said.

"Oh." Anna wasn't surprised but she was confused. They had both made it clear to her that they weren't serious, but that seemed to be what had caused Danny to get soused so early which did surprise her.

He took another long drink. "Yeah, did it earlier today … she didn't seem to mind too much."

Anna figured as much. Kathy would go back to Two-Bit eventually - that had been a given - it was just disappointing that Danny seemed to really like her.

"But you did?" she asked

Tim snorted from where he was leaning against the kitchen counter, and she glanced at him.

"She's a great girl," Danny said.

"Then why'd you end it? Not 'cause of Two-Bit I hope?"

"Na." Danny waved a hand in dismissal. "Though, I'm pretty sure she saw him last night …"

He trailed off and Anna waited as he took another drink, but instead of talking again he just leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

She turned to Tim. "What's goin' on? This can't be just 'cause he broke up with Kathy."

Tim shook his head. "It ain't," he said.

"Shit." Anna didn't bother asking Tim anymore. She knew that if he wanted to be the one to tell her what was going on he would have done so already. She didn't have to wait long for Danny to start talking again though.

"Ruth's pregnant."

Anna's stomach dropped. Ruth was pregnant? Ruth, the biggest bitch Anna had ever met and who was nowhere near good enough for her was brother was pregnant? She felt sick, literally sick.

"Danny." It came out as a moan, a _please don't say that_ moan.

He opened his eyes and gave her a drunken smile. "It'll be fine, kid."

_It'll be fine, kid?_ Anna wondered just how much he had had to drink for him to be saying it would be fine. It wouldn't be fine; nothing about this situation could ever be fine.

"Fine? Are you kidding me? How is this gonna be fine?"

Danny's smile quickly turned into a glare and Tim stepped forward.

"Just leave it, kid," Tim said but she ignored him.

"How could you let this happen?" she asked Danny. "How could you've been so stupid and irresponsible? With Ruth, of all girls?"

"Shut it, Anna," Danny snapped.

She was furious. At Ruth and at Danny. That girl was nothing but trash and she was having Danny's kid. Ruining Danny's chance at being happy with someone else, someone else he obviously really liked. And Danny … how could he have been so stupid?

"Are you sure it's even yours?"

Danny stood up straight, despite how drunk he was. "I said shut it."

Anna shook her head. "You're back with her?"

"What do you think?"

She knew he wasn't asking for her opinion on the matter but she gave it anyway. "I think you're an idiot."

XXXXX

An hour later Anna sat inside the Dingo, sipping on a cherry-cola and half-heartedly eating the fries she and Kathy were sharing.

"I still can't believe it," she said, popping a fry in her mouth.

Kathy shrugged. "It was bound to happen to someone we knew. Of course, neither of us expected it to be your brother."

Anna nodded. After telling Danny what an idiot he was, she had left the house and walked quickly down the street before remembering she couldn't go where she had wanted to go. She and Steve were still friends, but with the way they _hadn't_ been getting along lately and him dating her cousin, she didn't feel right going to him when she was upset.

It had been a moment of distress before she had realised that Kathy was the person she should be going to see anyway. Kathy knew what was going on, she was her best friend, and she had just been dumped. Anna had figured they could hang out and depress each other.

"I mean, I knew you two wouldn't last," she said unhappily. "That he would go back to Ruth and you would go back to Two-Bit, but for it to have to happen like this - it's just not fair."

"Life's not fair," Kathy said.

Anna sighed. "I think I was too hard on him."

"On Danny?"

"Yeah. I said some nasty stuff that I probably shouldn't've said."

Kathy nodded. "What happened was a mistake."

Anna nodded, glancing up when the doors to the Dingo opened and Steve and Evie strolled in. Her stomach clenched as she quickly looked away, hoping that if she didn't make eye contact, she wouldn't have to talk to them. Seeing them together was bad enough.

"Was Two-Bit at your place last night?" she asked Kathy, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Yeah." Kathy blushed and rushed on when Anna raised an eyebrow in response. "Nothin' happened, though. He got drunk after his fight with Danny and turned up unexpectedly." She shrugged. "I couldn't turn him away."

Anna nodded and glanced at Steve and Evie.

"I swear," Kathy continued, "nothing happened. Sure, me and Two-Bit are bound to get back together, but not last night. I never would have done anything while still with Danny."

"I know; I believe you." She paused and glanced at Steve again, catching him watching her. "Do you wanna go outside for a bit? It's kinda warm in here."

Kathy nodded and took a quick drink before they went outside. sitting next to each other on a table in the deserted parking lot. Anna made sure to keep her back to the Dingo as she sat, not wanting to be able to see Steve.

"I think Danny really liked you, though," Anna said.

Kathy blushed again. "Yeah, it's too bad things had to end so quickly; he's the first guy I've dated since Two-Bit and I really liked him, too. But even if this hadn't happened with Ruth we wouldn't have lasted. He knows I love Two-Bit and he's been pretty good about it."

Anna snorted. "At least you take Two-Bit back because you love him. Danny and Ruth don't love each other; they just can't seem to get away from each other."

Kathy smirked. "I can understand her not bein' able to stay away from him, but not the other way around; she's lacking in all kinds of morals."

Anna laughed before questioning Kathy. "So, are you and Two-Bit back together?"

"No, not yet."

"But soon?"

Kathy shrugged. "I want to be with him, but I don't wanna give in." She let out a long sigh and shook her head. "Let's not talk about him or Danny anymore."

Anna was happy to let the conversation of her brother drop. "Whaddya wanna talk about?"

"Anything. Anything to take my mind off of them."

Anna said the first thing that came to mind. "I like Steve."

Kathy stared at her. "What?"

"I like Steve," Anna said. "As in I really, _really_ like him."

"Since when?" Kathy asked and Anna could have laughed at the shocked, scandalised and ecstatic look on her face.

"Since he and Evie got back together," she said. "I know I should have told you when you asked, or even before that, but the whole thing is -"

"Complicated by the fact that he's datin' your cousin?"

Anna sighed. "Pretty much."

"How did this happen?"

"I dunno." Anna shrugged. "We became friends, then there was this almost kiss, and then it just sorta happened."

Kathy raised an eyebrow. "An almost kiss?"

"Long story."

"Wow."

Anna felt a huge relief to be telling Kathy about Steve and how she felt. Soda and her Grandpa were both great but having a girl to talk boy stuff to was better.

"I thought you were dating Soda?"

Anna shrugged. "Na, he knows how I feel about Steve and he's just being nice by hanging out with me to help take my mind off of Steve."

Kathy was silent for a bit as she processed what Anna had said.

"So, you really like him, huh?"

Anna nodded. "I more than like him. I'm damn near crazy about him. I'm always thinking about him, always wanting to be with him." She paused for a deep breath. "I have these feelings for him that I've never had for anyone before."

"You what?" A voice behind her asked.

Anna jumped to her feet and spun around, her stomach dropping when she saw Steve standing behind her. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit_. This was it; there was no going back now. He had heard what she had said; he _knew_ how she felt about him.

She stayed silent, though, biting her lower lip and wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now. His hard eyes were staring at her so intently that she had to look away, unable to fight the blush that she knew would just make things worse.

"How long have you been there?" Kathy asked, still sitting calmly at the table.

Steve frowned but kept his eyes on Anna. "You actually have _feelings_ for him?"

"I -" she started to answer - hoping she didn't throw up all over him - before realising what he had said.

She blinked, realising that Kathy, with her question of how long he had been there, had been right in wondering if he had heard enough to know about Anna's feelings for _him_. It took her, on the other hand, a few seconds to realise this and realise he thought she was talking about someone else. Talking about Sodapop.

She swallowed back the dread she had felt, and composed herself as best she could; deciding that going with what he thought was much easier than the truth.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing," she said.

"You have _feelings_ for Soda?"

She shrugged. "So what if I do?"

"But, he's my best friend," Steve said.

"And?"

"And you're …" he trailed off, looking disgusted.

Anna's eyebrows rose. "I'm _what_?"

"He's my best friend," he said again, "and you're …"

A flicker of the end of his sentence made its way into her head and she did her best to force back the lump in her throat at what he was implying.

"Not good enough," she finished for him.

His eyes narrowed. "I never said that."

"You didn't have to," she said, stepping over the seat towards him. "The way you've been treatin' me the last few days have made it obvious. Soda's a great guy, your best friend, and I'm just the brainless idiot you have to tutor and have never liked. You don't think I'm good enough for your best friend."

It all made sense to her now. His anger at her and the way he had been treating her all added up to one thing: his problem with her "dating" Soda. Because, even though they were friends now, he didn't think she was good enough.

She looked into his eyes as he frowned at her. No, he had never said it, but the look in his eyes showed her just how right she was. They were supposed to be friends, he had just obviously hurt her feelings, yet it was still only that same old anger and frustration in his eyes as he looked at her.

Tears began to form in her eyes as they looked at each other and she wondered just how badly he really thought of her. She couldn't believe how bad this was making her feel; falling for her cousin's boyfriend who thought of her as nothing more than a friend had been tough, but to find out he didn't even think she was good enough for his best buddy was like a punch to the stomach.

_God! How could I have been so stupid?_ she wondered, fighting back the urge to bawl like a child.

"Shit," she muttered, the tears spilling over and streaming down her cheeks before she could push them back.

Steve was silent as he stared at her.

"Goddamn it," she said, angrily wiping away the first traitorous tears she'd shed in years, before turning and leaving.

XXXXX

_Mine_, Steve thought to himself as he watched her walk out of the parking lot and down the street. _He's my best friend and you're mine_.

It was the only thing that had come to mind during the beginning of their conversation. Evie had wanted to talk to Linda Jones about something and Steve had told her he was going to get some air while he waited, seeing it as a good reason to talk to Anna.

Instead, he had heard her say she had feelings for Soda and there had been actual pain in his chest at the sound of it. A sudden possessiveness had come over him and he had hated it because he suddenly wanted her to be his, not Soda's.

"Way to go," Kathy said, standing up.

Steve looked at her. "I made her cry."

"You did."

He glanced back to where he could no longer see Anna walking away from them and back at Kathy. "I didn't mean to."

He really, _really_ hadn't meant to and he felt terrible. The last thing he had wanted to do was hurt Anna, especially when what she was hurting over wasn't even true. He hated that he had made her cry; he couldn't remember seeing her cry … ever. It killed him that he had hurt her that much.

And of course he didn't think she wasn't good enough for Soda. That wasn't it at all, but he had been so annoyed with his own new thoughts of wanting her to be his and surprised that she would think that little of him, that he hadn't been able to deny it properly.

Her not being good enough for Soda not only wasn't true, but wasn't the problem at all. The problem was that he didn't want her to be with Soda.

He wanted her to be with him.

"Shit," he muttered and ran a hand through his hair.

He _was_ jealous. This last week he had thought that he didn't like her being with Soda because they were both his friends and it was weird … but it was so much more than that. He had thought he was simply attracted to her and that had made her being with his best friend a little strange for him, but it was definitely more than that.

He wanted her to be with him, not Soda. He wanted her to have feelings for _him_, not Soda. He wasn't just attracted to her, he didn't just want her body, he wanted all of her and he briefly wondered why the fuck it had taken him this long to realise what was right in front of him.

He sat at the empty table, only now realising that Kathy had left and he was alone.

He wanted to be with her; to kiss her, to hold her, to just _be __with_ her all the time. After asking Kathy last week if Anna liked him, he was just now coming to realise that _he_ liked Anna and probably had for some time. He had feelings for her that outweighed anything he had ever felt for Evie. It wasn't a case of suddenly wanting someone he couldn't have because they had feelings for someone else … he truly wanted her and had for a while.

All the awkwardness he had felt around her and his dislike at her being with Soda was all because he liked her and he knew he couldn't deny it any longer. It was all because he was jealous that she was with Soda and not him.

But she liked Soda.

He remembered the way she had looked at him after their dance at his birthday and wondered again if maybe she had liked him then. He quickly wiped out that idea. She might have looked at him as though she had wanted nothing more than to be with him, but she had made it clear in the days following that it was Sodapop she wanted.

Sighing, he looked up to see Evie coming out of the Dingo and heading towards him. He didn't know what to do; he was with Evie when he wanted to be with her cousin who was with his best friend.

"I'm fucked," he muttered and stood up to greet Evie.

* * *

**A/N:** I can almost hear the words "Finally, Steve" running through all your minds, lol.

Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Everyone who reviews gets a cupcake!


	28. Is She Really Going Out with Him?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or the song 'Is She Really Going Out with Him?' by Joe Jackson.

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Monday, April 25th, 1966

Steve tapped his pencil on the table and continued to glance at the door, wondering if Anna was going to continue to avoid him or if she would actually show up for math today.

She hadn't shown up at his place for tutoring the day before. He hadn't really expected her to, not after what had happened on Saturday, yet he had still found himself sitting outside on the porch steps waiting for her. He'd thought that if she showed up and didn't feel good about being there, seeing him waiting for her like he almost always did might make her feel a bit better.

Not only had Anna not turned up, but sitting outside waiting for her had made him feel pretty shitty.

He stopped his tapping, suddenly realising he had unconsciously picked up Anna's habit that had always annoyed him, and sighed. The whole situation was tiring him out.

The whole liking his girlfriend's cousin thing was getting to him but he felt even worse about it now that it also meant he liked his best buddy's girl. He had avoided Soda as much as he could, which wasn't a whole lot, but he had managed to a bit. He'd only seen him for an hour or two on Sunday, not going to Soda's place till early afternoon and leaving a while later with the excuse of having to meet Anna.

Only Anna had never turned up.

He hadn't had to see Soda Saturday night, either, what with being out with Evie. As much as things weren't great with Evie, and as much as he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Anna the whole night, being around Evie had been better than being around Soda. Feeling guilty around his girlfriend about liking Anna wasn't bothering him nearly as much as it was when he was around Soda.

Finally, just as the start of class bell rang, Anna came in. His heart began beating faster as soon as he saw her, but he ignored it. He might have realised he liked Anna and really wanted to be with her, but he still wasn't used to what it made him feel.

He openly watched her as she walked to her seat next to him, wondering if she would even acknowledge him. He had been disappointed when she hadn't turned up yesterday. He had wanted to talk to her, to tell her that she had taken what he had been trying to say completely the wrong way.

Only, now that she was sitting next to him, not acknowledging him, he realised that if she knew he hadn't been saying that she wasn't good enough for Soda, she would want to know what he _had_ been saying, and he couldn't tell her that.

He wanted her to know that he didn't think badly of her like she thought he did, not even a little, but he couldn't tell her the truth.

He had to talk to her, though, try and make things right between them. If he couldn't be with her, he still wanted to be around her, be friends with her.

"Morning," he said, still staring.

She ignored him.

He frowned. "How was your weekend?"

She ignored him again and he felt like an idiot for talking such shit. _How was your weekend?_ He put his complete uselessness down to his newfound need to be with her; she was making him nervous and she didn't even know it.

_And it's gonna stay that way._

Setting a glare in his eyes, he continued to stare at her. "You gonna speak to me at all?"

She shook her head.

"You'll have to eventually."

She looked at him and he could see a flicker of hurt hidden beneath her anger. "Only to tell you to shut the hell up and leave me alone," she said. "Don't go expectin' any kind of great conversation from me."

"Mr. Randle, Miss Harris," Mr. Chase called. "Do either of you care to tell the class what is so very interesting in your corner there?"

Steve shook his head, Anna doing the same as Mr. Chase went back to the roll call Steve hadn't even heard him start.

He wondered if he should try again. Maybe if he just apologised and told Anna he hadn't meant what she had thought he had meant then things would be okay again. He could just tell her that it was weird for him, her and Soda becoming so close. That was what he had originally thought the problem was, just like it had been weird for her when he and Evie got back together. Surely she would understand that.

He glanced at her, a scowl on her pretty face as she wrote down whatever Mr. Chase was saying, and he resisted the urge to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, having to be content with watching her push it away angrily.

"Fuck," he said softly, picking up his pencil and quickly trying to catch up to what had been written on the chalkboard.

He was being such a fool and could only be glad that most of it was in his head and not actually happening. He could just imagine the scornful look on Anna's face were she to know exactly what he was thinking about her. His thoughts over the last day and a half had gone from mostly physical ones of wanting to throw her atop the table they were currently sitting at and take her - rest of the class be damned - to affectionate ones of wanting to tell her things he didn't tell anyone else, and simply wanting to touch her in any way possible.

"Anna," he said softly the second Mr. Chase stopped talking and told them to continue with yesterday's worksheets.

Again, she ignored him, only showing that she had even heard him by the deepening frown on her face.

"C'mon, Anna," he said, beginning to get a little fed up.

She sighed and turned slightly; unfortunately, she turned to the left, away from him.

"For fuck sake," he muttered, "will you at least look at me?"

She turned. "Please, _please_ leave me alone."

Steve stared at her and she stared right back, trying to look tough. He could still see the hurt, though.

"I didn't mean it," he said.

She turned back to her worksheet. "It doesn't matter."

"'Course it matters. I upset you."

She snorted. "Like you care."

"I do."

The two words sounded a lot heavier than he had intended and he wasn't the only one to notice. Anna tensed and glanced at him, eyes wide, and he refused to look away but also refused to say anymore. He just hoped his eyes didn't give away as much as hers usually did.

Finally, she looked down and bit her lip. He was about to open his mouth to say something, _anything_, when she began speaking again.

"Please, just leave me alone," she said again, resting her elbow on the table and her forehead on her palm as she worked.

Steve nodded. "Fine."

XXXXX

The two words rung in Anna's ears for the rest of class and even once it ended.

I do? _I do?_ She shook her head as she walked out of the math class, ignoring the scowl Steve was sending her, and wondered just how true those words were.

He had made her cry! How could he care about her if he was willing to make her cry? But then again, he said he didn't mean what he had said so maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe Kathy was right and she had just taken what he had said completely the wrong way …

"How'd it go?" Kathy asked, grabbing Anna's arm and dragging her down the hall as soon as she saw her.

Anna shrugged. "About as good as you could expect."

"Did he give you a hard time?"

She frowned. Steve hadn't _really_ given her a hard time, but he hadn't just left her alone like she would have preferred, either. Though, what she really would have preferred was to not have seen him and to have skipped math. Unfortunately, the not so great results she had received back last week on the math quiz they had taken just before Steve's birthday had meant there would be no skipping math any time soon.

"He wasn't too bad," she told Kathy. "I'm just glad he didn't mention that I cried in front of him."

She still couldn't believe that had happened; that he had made her cry. They were supposed to be friends and, despite what she had told Danny the week before, close. Steve was the person she had turned to after her dad had hit her and he'd been the person she had wanted to go to when she'd found out about Ruth being pregnant. They were supposed to be close and to care about each other.

Again Steve's words rang in her ears. He had basically been telling her that he did care about her. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear from him but it was the most she had even gotten out of him.

"'Course he didn't," Kathy said. "He didn't mean what he said, I'm sure of it."

Anna just shrugged as they headed out the back doors and toward Kathy's car.

Whether he had meant it or not didn't change the fact that he obviously didn't like her being with Sodapop or that he had made her cry, intentionally or not. She couldn't remember crying in front of him before. None of the nasty things he had said to her during their years of not getting along had been nasty enough to make her cry … not even what he had said about her mom a few months back.

But now, a few meaningful words that she may very well have taken the wrong way had brought her to tears and she felt like an idiot. She had been so stupid, letting him get to her like that. She had spent the last few weeks liking him and wanting to be with him and hurting because of it but managing to keep herself together about it. Now she was wishing that if she'd had to cry about him, why couldn't it have been some other time … some other time when she was alone and nowhere near him?

"Uh-oh."

Anna looked up at Kathy as they reached her car to find Kathy staring at a car parked on the side of the road next to the parking lot. Turning to look at the car, Anna frowned when Tim nodded to her and beckoned her over.

"Well, that's just great," she muttered, hopping down from the hood.

"At least you don't have a huge crush on him anymore," Kathy said.

Anna grinned. "Be back in a minute."

She made her way over to Tim who was leaning against his car, legs crossed at the ankle and talking to Henry Phillips. She wondered what kind of lecture he was about to give her and hoped it would be quick. With a quick smile in her direction, Henry took off as she reached them and Tim pulled out his cigarettes, offering her one.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, taking the smoke and letting him light it for her.

"Danny got locked up."

Her stomach dropped. "What for?"

"He was drunk and picking fights near the Dingo on Saturday night. Normally he would've been out by now but he accidentally punched one of the cops in the face when they came to pick him up."

"Shit." She took a deep drag of the smoke, letting the heat of it in her throat calm her.

"He shouldn't be in for more than a few days," Tim said, standing up straight. "Just thought you should know."

Anna nodded. "Is that it?"

"What else would there be?"

She shrugged. "No lecture on how bad I treated Danny when he already felt like shit?"

Tim shook his head. "Figured you already knew and didn't need one."

Rolling her eyes, she finished her smoke and watched Tim get in his car and drive off.

"What'd he want?" Kathy asked from behind her.

Anna tossed her finished cigarette in the gutter. "Did you know Danny got locked up on Saturday night?"

"No, what happened?"

Anna told her the story as they made their way back to Kathy's car. She didn't know what to do about her brother. She knew she had to apologise, but wouldn't be able to do so for a couple of days and even then she could only hope he accepted it.

She glanced up as they sat on the hood of the car again, feeling someone staring at her, and found Steve's blue eyes on her. She looked away immediately, not wanting to be sucked into his gaze right then.

XXXXX

Steve slammed the hood of the old Ford pick-up he and Soda had been working on and grabbed the rag out of his back pocket. Wiping his hands, he glanced at the cars in the garage, pleased he and Soda had managed to finish them off fairly quickly.

The station had been so overloaded with cars needing to be fixed that day that Billy had asked one of the full-time guys to stay a little later and help Steve finish up, knowing the only one willing to do it was Sodapop. They had worked tirelessly for an hour and a half, getting the work done in good time for Soda to get a little extra cash and still make it home early enough after a long day.

"That's about it," Soda said happily as he handed Steve a Coke from the front store.

Steve grinned back and took a long swig of the drink. With his need to avoid Soda at the moment, he hadn't been too pleased that his buddy had had to stay late, even though he knew Soda needed all the extra money he could get his hands on. But, even though it had just been the two of them for most of the night, Steve had managed to keep his mind on the cars, not on his buddy's girl.

"Sure is," he agreed and led the way into the front store.

He wondered if Soda had seen Anna and knew, not only what had happened at the Dingo, but also of her feelings for him. Deciding he wanted to know more than he didn't want to talk about her, he brought her into conversation.

"You see Anna last night?" he asked.

Soda shook his head and took a drink. "Na, haven't seen her since Saturday when she was here."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "So, when are you seein' her again?"

"Dunno, maybe tomorrow night."

"She really likes you." He didn't know why he said it when it bothered him so much. He figured he just wanted Soda to be happy, even if it was with Anna.

Soda looked confused. "Who? Anna?"

"Yeah."

"What makes ya say that?"

"You mean other than the fact that she's dating ya?" Steve asked, annoyed.

Soda nodded and Steve sighed. He supposed there was no harm in telling Sodapop the whole story, if anything Soda could tell Anna that he hadn't meant anything bad and then maybe she would talk to him again.

"I overheard her talking about you at the Dingo on Saturday," he said.

"Oh yeah? What'd she say?"

Steve felt like ice had been poured into his stomach as he remembered. "Just that she really likes you and can't stop thinkin' about you."

Soda frowned as Steve paused, having to force the next words out of his mouth.

"That she has feelings for you."

Soda was silent and Steve looked at the floor, hoping his friend wouldn't be able to tell just how much of a problem this was for him.

"She said she has feelings for me?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

They were both silent and Steve couldn't help but remember how he had felt when he had heard her say it. It had kinda hurt then; there had been a strange pain in his chest but he hadn't understood it. Now every time he thought about it he physically hurt and he knew exactly why.

"Did she say my name?"

"Huh?" Steve's brow furrowed in confusion.

Soda stepped closer to him. "Did she say my name?"

"I dunno, probably," Steve said.

"But did you hear her? Did you actually hear her say _my_ name when she was talkin' about having feelings for someone?"

Steve thought about it. He could remember almost every word said during that confrontation but could only remember hearing her say Soda's name once. But that had been when she was telling him that he apparently thought she wasn't good enough for Soda, not when she was talking about her feelings for him.

"No," he finally said. "She said your name, but not then."

"So, you never actually heard her say she has feelings for _me_?"

"I guess not," Steve said frowning. "But she ain't ever denied it, either."

"Tell me what happened."

Steve sighed and told Soda what had been said between him and Anna, keeping out all the feelings that had unexpectedly come to him at the time.

"Sounds like a bit of a mix up," Soda said when he had told him the story, almost word for word.

"Exactly," Steve said. "I never meant that she wasn't good enough for ya."

Soda shook his head. "I know that," he said, "but that's not what I meant."

Steve waited silently but impatiently for Soda to continue.

"Anna doesn't have feelings for me," he said. "She wasn't talking about me, and, technically, we haven't been dating."

"What're you talkin' about?"

Soda ran a hand through his hair before shrugging on his jean jacket. "We've just been hanging out, as friends," he said. "There ain't anythin' at all going on between me and Anna."

Steve was both confused and relieved and knew it showed on his face when Soda gave him that knowing look again.

"Ya ready to admit that you were bothered by me hangin' out with her?" Soda asked with a cheeky grin.

Steve shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"Ha. Ready to admit that you were completely jealous when you thought she was dating me?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah," he breathed, happy to get it off his conscience.

Soda put his hand on Steve arm. "Me and Anna are friends," he said, "and I ain't about to go telling her secrets. But there is someone she likes and has feelings for."

He paused as Steve stared at him, holding his breath and willing him to say it.

"I'm sure you can figure out the rest," Soda finished and turned, walking out the door.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

For those who pay attention, yes this is the same chapter title as what chapter twenty-seven originally was. We'll blame the fact that I apparently can't read a list for that one ;)

Anyway, please review.


	29. Fix You

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Fix You' by Coldplay.

**A/N 1:** This chapter is rated T for a reason.

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**Wednesday, April 27th, 1966**

Anna watched Danny drive off, a feeling of annoyance filling her. He had only been released that morning and, despite the promising way their conversation had started out, they had ended up fighting again pretty quickly.

She had apologised and tried to be nice and positive about what was going on and, for a while, everything had been great. But then Danny had said he was going to do the responsible thing and ask Ruth to marry him. Things had turned to shit right away.

_I should have known_, she thought to herself as she walked back inside. It's what every couple in their situation ends up doing if the girl doesn't get sent away to live with family and Ruth had no family other than her mother who she lived with.

Rubbing a hand over her face she walked into the kitchen and sat down, wishing things had gone better with Danny. She knew she needed to just accept what was going on, there was no other solution to it, but she really hated that Danny was being brought down by Ruth.

Getting up, she pulled some leftover meatloaf out of the fridge and - hearing her dad enter the house - hoped her effort at getting him dinner could either keep or put him in a good mood. He was still leaving her alone for the most part since hitting her. They still fought but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it used to be.

She wasn't let down when he opened the door, hung up his coat and came into the kitchen.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Meatloaf. Ya want some?"

He nodded. "Heat some up for me while I shower."

Anna turned and rolled her eyes at her dad's lack of manners but began heating the oven and getting some vegetables ready.

Peeling some potatoes, she glanced at the clock, both surprised and pleased that Danny hadn't realised the time while he had been home and brought up the fact that she wasn't at Steve's being tutored like she should be. It made hiding the fact that she hadn't been on Sunday - or the night before - and that she wasn't planning on going back anytime soon much easier.

Not only was she not going back to tutoring, but she and Steve weren't even talking … at all. On Monday he'd attempted conversation with her but since then, since she had told him to leave her alone, he had. At first she hadn't been sure how she felt about that; she missed him and missed being able to talk to him, even if she did blush every time. She was, however, finding _not_ being friends with Steve while she wanted to be with him and he was with someone else much easier to deal with than _being _friends with him.

She was placing a pot of potatoes on the stove to boil when the phone began to ring and her dad walked past the kitchen and into the living room to answer it. Anna couldn't hear what was being said from in the kitchen, but didn't care anyway. The only person who would call her was Kathy and she usually hung up right away if her dad answered.

It was only a few minutes later when her dad walked into the kitchen and stood at the doorway, watching her peel carrots. She glanced up at him, unsure of the look in his eyes.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

He stared at her for a bit before answering. "That was the hospital," he said.

_Danny!_ Her stomach practically jumped into her throat at the thought of her brother being hurt enough to be in hospital and she carefully dropped the peeler and carrot.

"What did they want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

He kept staring at her and she had to remind herself not to yell at him and demand that he answer her. _That would just make things worse._

"Joe's dead," he said in a calm voice.

_Joe? Who the hell was Joe? The only Joe she could think of was -_

It came to her so suddenly that she began to shake and had to take a hold of the counter to keep standing upright.

"You're lying," she said, staring her father in the eye.

He shook his head. "No, I ain't."

"You are! If it was true, why would the hospital ring and tell you? Grandpa Joe hates you!"

"You're right, he does. That's why they asked for Danny. 'Course, if the hospital's calling for your brother I'm entitled to know why and those stupid fucks there wouldn't know if I was Danny or not," he told her.

Anna looked away from her dad, the sharp pain in her chest making it hard to focus on anything. It was true. She knew it the moment he said the hospital had asked for Danny. Since their mom took off, it was Danny's name Grandpa Joe put as next of kin on any form he had to fill out and there was no way her dad knew that.

She looked back at him, hating the calm way he stared back. Pushing away everything but the need to get out of the house and not give in to the hurt she was feeling, she was out the door and running down the street within seconds.

XXXXX

Steve refused to believe he had come to sit on the porch steps because he was waiting for Anna, deciding instead that he simply wanted the fresh air. Sitting there almost two hours later, he assured himself that it wasn't as if he never used to sit outside before Anna had come along anyway.

Sighing, he stood and went inside, figuring he should start on his own homework even though Anna hadn't turned up. He didn't know if she was ever going to come back or if their tutoring lessons were over for good.

But, in saying that, he didn't know what to do about _her_ either. He liked her and wanted to be with her, but she seemed intent on completely writing him off and he was still dating Evie. He knew he should just break it off with Evie and tell Anna how he felt, but nothing was ever as easy as it sounded.

For starters, just because Soda had said that she had feelings for someone and had made it pretty obvious Steve was that someone didn't make it true. Then, even if it had been true, that didn't mean it was still true now. She could have been talking about anyone on Saturday. As Soda had pointed out, Steve hadn't heard anyone's name being mentioned.

Sitting at the kitchen table, he scowled and knew he was just thinking shit to himself and being a coward, but at that moment, being a coward was much more appealing than taking the risk and telling Anna how he felt.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts and he hopelessly found himself hoping it was Anna. Pulling it open, he found Danny Harris standing there, looking pale and worried.

"Is Anna here?" he asked straight away.

Steve slowly shook his head. "Na, she never turned up tonight."

"Shit." Danny ran a hand through his hair and turned to leave.

"Wait," Steve said, following him outside and down the front steps. "What's goin' on? Is she alright?"

Danny snorted. "I fuckin' doubt it," he said and kept walking.

"What's goin' on?" Steve asked again, unable to stop the worry that was flooding through him at the thought that something was wrong with Anna. "Is it your dad? Did he hurt her again?"

Danny glanced over his shoulder and gave him a strange look. "Na, it ain't that."

"Tell me what happened," Steve demanded, following the older boy. "I can help find her."

Danny turned. "Our Grandpa died," he said and shrugged. "The first place I thought to check was here. I thought she might've come to you like she did when Dad hit her, but she ain't here and I have no clue where the fuck she is."

Steve's mind was quickly filled with all the little mentions Anna had made of her Grandpa Joe and he knew he had to find her, make sure she was alright. He knew she was close with her grandpa, that he was the person she talked to about everything.

Pulling his attention back to Danny he found him heading to his car which was parked haphazardly on the side of the road.

"Wait. Let me help you find her," he said again.

Danny turned and nodded. "Yeah, yeah okay. I'm gonna drive out to our grandpa's place and see if she somehow made it there before heading downtown to see if she came looking for me." He ran a hand through his hair again. "Do you think you could check a couple of places around town? The Dingo? Buck's?"

Steve nodded. "Sure."

He turned and went back inside, quickly grabbing his keys and slamming the door behind him as he came back out, wondering where to look first.

XXXXX

Sitting at the bar in Buck's, Anna sipped at her whiskey, still unable to believe how she had managed to run all the way to the hospital without stopping. She figured it must have been the shock or some kind of adrenaline rush, because the furthest she had ever run before was to Steve's house after her dad had hit her.

Taking a large gulp of her third glass of the strong liquor, she kept her mind firmly on the hospital and what had happened while there. It was much easier than thinking about the pain in her chest and the details of what was causing it.

She remembered the nice nurse who had given her a sympathetic look when she had asked for Joe Murdoch, before leading her into a small sitting room. There she had told her what she had feared the whole way there: that her grandpa was dead, her dad had been telling the truth.

The nurse, Mary-something-or-other, had told Anna her that Grandpa Joe's buddy and next door neighbour had found him in his recliner earlier that evening. That it had been a heart attack and that they were sure it had been instant - that he had been in no pain at all. That had only been a small relief for Anna who hated that he had died alone and, from the sounds of it, been dead all day before being found.

The nurse had then asked Anna if Danny, the person on the next of kin form, would be coming by or if she would be collecting the belongings her grandpa had had on him when he had been brought to the hospital. Anna had said she would collect them and the nurse had left her alone with the shoebox sized container.

Anna hadn't even bothered to think about it, most of the stuff in the box being crap anyway, just grabbed his wedding ring, the crucifix necklace he had always worn and all the cash in his wallet. She had quickly left right away, not bothering to tell the kind nurse and assuring herself that her grandpa would want her to have the cash she was taking.

Now she sat in Buck's, unable to go to Steve like she had really wanted to do, therefore doing the next best thing … drinking away all her worries, drinking away the pain.

She just wished it would work.

Her chest clenched painfully again as her mind went back to the one thing she didn't want to think about: Grandpa Joe was dead. Apart from Danny, he was all the family she had that mattered, and he was gone. The fact that Danny was going to marry Ruth, who would do everything in her power to push Anna out of his life, just made things that much worse.

Her breaths began to come in short gasps as the reality of it all hit her. He was dead, he literally no longer existed. She would never see him again, never have dinner with him, and never talk to him again. Her stomach knotted and she pressed a hand into it, hoping she wouldn't throw up.

She thought back to the last time she had seen him, her breath hitching as she remembered the half hug he had initiated before she'd left. It wouldn't happen again … ever. It had rarely happened in the past and now it would never happen again.

Realising she was beginning to have trouble breathing, Anna quickly got to her feet and stumbled towards the door of the mostly empty bar. She needed fresh air, she needed to calm down, she needed … _something_.

When the door opened right in front of her, she paused, wanting to cry her frustrations at the people blocking her way outside before realising what she was seeing.

There she was, Ruth Goodall, with some guy's hands all over her. She didn't even notice Anna as she walked past her; just let the guy lead her into the bar before kissing him. All thoughts of everything left as Anna stared at the girl who was ruining her brother's life.

She didn't know what came over her and didn't really care - she was just glad for the distraction - but figured it was a mixture of everything, including the alcohol she had consumed. She was sick of hurting and needed to take it out on someone. As far as she was concerned, there was no one better than Ruth Goodall.

"What are you doing?"

Ruth turned to glance at her before sneering. "Fuck off, Anna," she said, continuing up to the bar.

"No." Anna grabbed the older girls arm and yanked her around.

"Hey!" Ruth cried.

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" she asked again. "You can't just go around kissin' whatever guy you like! Not when you and Danny are together."

Ruth snorted. "You never cared in the past."

"Of course I cared," Anna snapped as the door behind her opened and closed. "But I never said anything 'cause I figured it wouldn't matter anyway and that Danny would eventually dump your sorry ass. Now you're pregnant with his kid, he's stuck with you forever, and you can't do this to him."

Ruth actually laughed and, not for the first time in her life, Anna felt like slapping her. "I'm not pregnant you silly bitch," Ruth said. "I never was."

"What?"

"I told Danny I was pregnant 'cause anyone with half a brain could see how much he liked Kathy." Ruth shrugged. "I wasn't about to lose him to some little blonde bimbo, so I told him I was pregnant."

A cold chill went down Anna's spine. "You - you bitch!" she screamed and lunged forward, no longer denying herself the need to slap Ruth.

She didn't even make it close enough to touch the other girl when someone grabbed her from behind, their arms holding her at the waist as they lifted her away.

"Hey! Get offa me!" she yelled in surprise as the body behind her dragged her out of Buck's, Ruth laughing at her.

Whoever it was ignored her and continued pulling her away, but she refused to go without a fight. That little bitch deserved to get her face kicked in and Anna had decided she should be the one to do. If it meant kicking and screaming at the person behind her to get away, then so be it.

"I mean it!" she continued as the cool night air hit her face. "Let me go right now. I'm gonna beat her head in, just let me go!"

She continued screaming and thrashing in the arms that held her. Whoever the arms belonged to continued to ignore her until she was roughly placed on her feet and pushed against the brick wall down the side of the building.

"Calm the fuck down, would ya?"

"You!" she gasped, glaring at Steve who was still holding tightly onto her arms and pressing her back against the side of Buck's. "Let me go, right now."

"Not a chance."

Anna continued to struggle against his hands that held her arms. "Let me go you jerk. I'm gonna kick her head in."

"You ain't gonna do shit," Steve said stepping closer to her. "You can't fight worth shit at the best of times; a few drinks in ya sure ain't gonna help."

"Jesus, Steve, just let me go!" she yelled. "Let me go right now. You got right to hold me here like this and you have no idea what's going on -"

"I know about your grandpa, Anna, and I ain't lettin' ya go," Steve growled, and tears stung the back of Anna's eyes at the unfairness of it all. After everything that had happened, could she not have just one thing go her way? If he knew about Grandpa Joe, why wouldn't he just do as she asked?

"Let me go!"

"No."

"I hate you!" she screamed, still struggling against his hold as tears fell. "You're nothing but a fucking jerk and I was stupid to think different and I hate -"

Anna's words were cut off as Steve grabbed her by the side of the face and pressed himself against her in a harsh kiss. Her back thudded against the brick wall behind her and she hit her head hard, but didn't stop to worry about it. Instead, she kissed him back immediately, snaking her arms around his neck and letting his tongue invade her mouth. Her heart was thudding impossibly fast as she pulled him to her, his hands leaving her face and his arms wrapping tightly around her waist.

She didn't bother to stop and think anything through. After everything that had happened that night - the last month - Anna didn't have the energy to question why the hell he was kissing her. Not only that, but the feel of Steve's mouth, hot against her own, and his hands that had begun roaming all over her body, hardly put her in the right frame of mind to be thinking things through.

She moaned into his mouth and tightened her arms around his neck, wanting more, needing more. Her flesh tingled as his warm hands slid down her front and slipped under the back of her blouse, touching, stroking, and kneading the flesh on the small of her back. Kissing him harder, she pulled him as close to her as she could, silently begging him to do the same and almost wanting to cry with relief when he did. She didn't know why he was kissing her, why he was so willing to hold her the way he was, but a completely nonsensical part of her allowed the notion that perhaps he was trying to make her feel better, trying to take away some of her pain.

The even crazier part of her was willing to let him.

Anna could feel him as he pressed her body into the wall, rocking himself against her. Sliding one hand up to cup her breasts, he made a noise in the back of his throat as he touched her before starting on the buttons of her blouse. Anna felt the cool night air hit her bare skin quickly as Steve opened, and possibly ripped the top few buttons and slid a hand inside.

She squirmed, his fingers trailing over her bra covered breasts, causing her mind to swim. Pulling her lips away, she gasped for breath. Steve used the moment to go to work on her neck and throat - nibbling, suckling and sending tiny shivers down her spine with every lick, nip and press of his lips.

This was perfect. This was everything she had been wanting for a month now and so much more. His hot mouth on her skin, his hard body flush against her own and his hands on her as if he never wanted to let go. It was what she wanted, what she needed.

"Glory, Anna," Steve moaned against her neck as she shivered under his touch.

But that word, her name on his lips being spoken with such want, such _desire_, caused everything to come crashing back to earth. Anna slid her hands to his chest and pushed as hard as she could. Steve pulled his hand out of her blouse and leaned away, looking at her in confusion. Anna pushed again, needing him to be as far away from her as possible.

He wasn't hers to take the pain away. He wasn't hers to let take the pain away. He wasn't _hers_.

"I hate you," she said again, in a soft voice as a fresh wave of pain came over her and tears spilled from her eyes. "I hate you."

Steve looked at her carefully and she stared back as defiantly as she could, taking her pain out on him being much easier than dealing with it. He stepped towards her, batting away her hands that still rested on his chest, until there was only a hairsbreadth distance between them.

He placed one arm back around her waist while the other hand gently smoothed her hair away from her face and wiped away her tears. She shivered under his touch again, loving the gentleness of it. He leant his head down, his dark blue eyes gazing down at her.

"No you don't," he said, almost a whisper as he thumbed her lips. "You want this. You want this just as much as I do. You want _me_ just as much as I want _you_."

Anna's heart dropped at the words and she closed her eyes. They were what she'd wanted to hear so badly, but it didn't change things. He was her cousin's boyfriend, not hers. But that didn't stop her from kissing him back when he brought his lips down to hers.

This kiss wasn't anything like the last one, which had been rough, needy and full of anger and grief. This one was soft, gentle, caring, but still full of grief.

Steve kept his hands exactly where they were, one cradling her cheek, the other stroking the small of her back while Anna let hers rest against his chest, feeling his heart pounding beneath his shirt.

He kissed her long and slow, gently caressing her tongue with his own, thumb softly stroking her cheek and fingers rubbing circles on her lower back. He was kissing her as if he really cared and Anna could honestly say it was best kiss she'd ever had.

A sob caught in her throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, pulling him as close as she could. Everything was hurting, but at least she was getting comfort from the one person she wanted it from.

"What the fuck?"

Anna pulled away and saw Danny standing at the end of the building. He looked as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing and was deciding whether or not he should intervene. Pushing on Steve's chest so he'd move away, she stared back at her brother, not sure what to say.

"Are you alright?" he asked, stepping forward.

"Yeah." She nodded and did up the buttons Steve hadn't ripped.

"What the fuck's goin' on?" he asked.

Anna looked back at Steve's steady gaze, wondering how the hell he could stay so damn calm as he stared at her.

"Nothing," she said, looking him straight in the eye, glad when she finally saw some emotion flicker in there. "Nothing at all."

Looking away she turned and headed towards Danny who wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"I've been worried sick about you," he said and she could hear the truth to his words in his low voice.

"I'm fine," she lied. "Let's go home."

* * *

**A/N 2:** As usual, thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

All thoughts and con-crit are welcome and wanted. This is one of my favourite chapters, but was also kind of hard to write. I'd love to know how it came across to you all :)


	30. Stand by Me

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Stand by Me' by Ben E. King

**

* * *

**

Wednesday, May 4th, 1966

Steve wasn't entirely sure he was doing the right thing, but he wasn't about to let his uncertainty stop him.

Climbing out of his car, he took one last drag of his smoke before flicking the butt to the ground. Glancing up the grassy knoll, he saw Anna standing with Danny and knew that, even if this was one of his more stupid ideas, he was going to do it anyway … just in case.

He hadn't seen Anna since Wednesday night at Buck's. She hadn't been to school since then and hadn't turned up for any tutoring. Neither of which was surprising considering her grandpa's death, but it made Steve even more unsure about her reaction to seeing him again.

He had kissed her, after all.

Glad he had arrived early and still had some time to kill, he lit up another smoke and leaned against the car, his back to Anna. He had kissed her and she had kissed him back just as desperately. He didn't know if it was just the emotional state she'd been in that made her do it but, either way, he hadn't minded one bit.

At first he had just wanted to shut her the hell up. Hearing the pain in her voice as she yelled at him and hearing her say that she hated him had done strange things to his insides. He knew she didn't really hate him, but it still hadn't been cool to hear. Kissing her had truly seemed like his only option. It had been purely on impulse in the hopes of calming her down or, at the very least, shocking her into silence.

And it had been amazing. All the little fantasies he'd had over the last few weeks about kissing her hadn't even compared to what it had been like. The feel of her mouth against his own, her small hands touching him, and her general eagerness had driven him a little crazy and he'd probably taken that first kiss further than he should have.

_Hell,_ he thought, blowing out a perfect smoke ring and watching a car pull up next to him; _my hand was inside her shirt. Of course I took it too far._

"Hey," he said as Kathy climbed out of her car.

She smiled at him, looking relieved. "You came."

"Yeah."

She nodded and came around the back of her car to stand next to him. "I was hopin' you would."

Steve raised an eyebrow and flipped up the collar of his jacket. Despite the warmth of spring, it was definitely funeral weather and he was sure the dark clouds rolling in would eventually open up.

"You think it's okay?" he asked. "That I'm here?"

"Definitely." She nodded at his smoke. "Think I could bum one of those?"

Steve handed her his pack and lighter and a comfortable silence fell between them as they stood together. Steve's mind went straight back to his kiss with Anna.

He liked to think he'd made up for taking the first kiss too far. The intensity of it, the high emotions that had been running, and sexual tension that had been between the two of them for a while and was finally being eased had, without a doubt, made it the best kiss of his life.

But it had been making Anna feel better that he'd cared about.

Especially when she pushed him away. One look into her teary eyes had shown him that, during the past few weeks, he had contributed to the pain she had been in right then.

But he hadn't let that stop him. Not only had the one taste of her lips he'd once thought would be enough not even close, but he wanted to, _needed_ to make her feel better any way he knew how.

So he had kissed her again, and admitted out loud to her that he wanted her. He had told her what only Soda knew, and had no idea what to make of the look in her eyes when he had said it.

But, instead of trying to figure out the look she had given him, he had just kissed her again and tried to put what he was feeling into the kiss. He had kept his hands exactly where they had been on her waist and cheek, and hoped the fact that he was no longer feeling her up would let her in on the fact that he really wanted to be there for her, and not just physically.

And again she had responded to him. He huffed out a breath as he remembered the feel of her in his arms as she had willingly pressed herself against him. Other than the fact that she'd been crying, it had been perfect. But then Danny had come along.

"Are you alright?" Kathy asked from next to him.

Steve glanced at her and realised he was scowling. "Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

In a way he was glad Danny had turned up. He was pretty sure Anna both wanted and needed her brother more than she wanted or needed Steve at that time. But, in a way, it had still pissed him off that Danny had turned up and taken her away.

The blank look in her eyes as she had said nothing was going on had been tough. It had hurt, and Steve hated the idea that she might have meant it.

"Time to go," Kathy said softly.

Steve looked up to see her looking up the small hill. Throwing away his smoke, he pushed himself off his car and followed Kathy towards Anna and Danny and the few other people that were gathered there.

He was still unsure about what Anna's reaction to him would be, especially at her grandpa's funeral, but he wasn't going to leave. He was going to stay … just in case.

XXXXX

Anna sat in the passenger seat of Danny's car as they left the cemetery, hardly even aware that the funeral was over. It wasn't that she was so out of it that she didn't know what was going on around her, she just didn't care.

She was tired and fed up. Getting used to the idea that she would never see someone again was a lot harder than she had originally thought it would be … not that she had ever really given it a whole bunch of thought.

When her mom had left it had been different. She was still alive and there was no certainty that she would never see her again. It was unlikely, but not definite. Her grandpa, on the other hand, was dead and buried and there was complete certainty that she would never see him again.

It left a constant ache in her chest that had yet to begin to lessen. She hoped that it would, assumed that it would. She had never had anyone close to her die before and didn't really know what it would be like in a couple of weeks or months. She just hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was right then.

Letting out a sigh, she rested her head against the window as they drove home. She'd spent the last few days holed up in her bedroom, only coming out when her dad wasn't home and even then not very much and not for very long. The darkness of her bedroom was a million times more comforting than attempting conversation with her dad or even Danny.

A small smile flitted across her face as she thought of her dad and the way he had left her alone since Wednesday. Actually, that wasn't quite true. He had knocked on her door Friday night and offered her some of the roast chicken he had made for dinner. Anna had ignored him but questioned Danny about it later.

Danny hadn't said much, just that he and certain a gang leader, both with one hell of a record and a switch, could be very convincing. Anna had silently thought it was about time her brother stood up for her like that but had simply thanked him and made a mental note to thank Tim also.

She also silently wondered how accurate her brother's recount of that was. Her dad was a big guy; she doubted he was afraid of Danny or Tim … but, she supposed, it was the thought that counted.

Even more than being glad her dad was leaving her alone, she was glad she and Danny had sorted things out. After losing their grandpa, all other issues they were both dealing with had seemed kind of unimportant. Any talk of Ruth, or why Danny had caught her kissing Steve had gone out the window for a few days.

Then, while her dad was out Saturday evening and they were sitting on the porch together, Anna had mentioned what Ruth had said at Buck's. At first she had questioned if her brother would even believe her, only to find out he already knew, having been told by fellow Shepard gang member Henry Phillips who Anna hadn't even noticed being in Buck's that night.

"You don't gotta worry 'bout her no more, Anna," Danny had said, his voice sounding bitter. "She's gone for good this time."

Anna hadn't said anything, feeling pleased but not really caring enough to continue talking about it. She had wanted Danny to know the truth and he did. Once she had realised that, her thoughts had gone right back to Grandpa Joe.

At least until Danny had mentioned Steve. She had ignored his question, though, not wanting to talk or even think about that.

He had kissed her and it had been amazing, but it changed nothing. Thinking about that on top of thinking about her dead grandpa wasn't going to do her any good and she knew it. But, she still did it.

She couldn't help it and it made her feel guilty. Not only because she had kissed her cousin's boyfriend and enjoyed it more than she really should have, but also because she was supposed to be grieving, not thinking about some boy who had kissed her and made her feel fantastic.

She didn't know what the kiss meant. She didn't know if it meant he cared for her like she wanted him to or if he was just looking for a way to shut her up. She hadn't seen or heard from him since it had happened and, for all she knew, he wanted it to stay that way.

For all she knew, he had probably just taken pity on her and wanted to never have to think about it again.

Shifting in her seat, she sighed again, ignoring the look Danny gave her. She knew that wasn't true. She knew Steve cared about her, as a friend at the very least. She had seen the flicker of some kind of emotion in his eyes when she had told Danny that nothing was going on and his words burned in her ears every time she thought about him.

_You want me just as much as I want you._

What the _hell_ did that mean?

Did he want to sleep with her or did he truly want _her_? Well, she was positive he wanted to sleep with her. That had been made obvious during their kiss, but what about more than that?

She didn't know, and it confused her too much to think about it. She wasn't positive, being that she hadn't been to school or seen anyone other than Danny in a week, but she was pretty damn sure he was still with Evie and that didn't say much about him wanting her.

"You alright?" Danny asked, thankfully bringing her out of her thoughts of Steve and what had happened between them.

She glanced at him, seeing Grandpa Joe's wedding ring that was now situated on his index finger and instinctively reached for the crucifix that hung around her neck. She hadn't really thought about it when she had grabbed the items, just known that they had both meant something to her grandpa. Her taking the necklace and Danny having the ring just seemed right somehow, even if neither of them continued to wear them.

"I'm fine," she lied.

He snorted. "You're a damn good liar, Anna," he said, "but I can see right through ya."

She shrugged. "Whatever."

"You wanna go to the Dingo and get a burger or something?" he asked.

"Na, I just wanna go home."

Danny nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Look," he started, "I know you ain't gonna want to do it, but Aunt Helen called yesterday. She wants us 'round for tea tomorrow night for Uncle Alf's birthday."

"You're kidding, right?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head. "Sorry, Miss B. I know you don't wanna go out, especially to Aunt Helen's when there's a good chance Steve'll be there with Evie, but we have to go."

Anna's heart clenched at that thought. Of course Steve would be there with Evie. It had always been that way the last time the two of them had been together. He would be invited to family dinners at Evie's house and he and Anna would spend the whole night trying not to ruin everyone's fun by fighting. Only this time, she was sure, they would spend the whole night ignoring each other so no one knew they had cheated on Evie.

"I don't wanna go," she said, crossing her arms and frowning.

Danny smirked at her. "You look like a kid pouting like that," he said. "And we're going whether ya like it or not. Uncle Alf's always been real good to us; we gotta go."

Anna sighed. "Fine."

She knew he was right. She was acting like a child and they did have to go … but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it. The last thing she needed was to be around Steve and Evie when her thoughts were a mix of the horrible ache in her chest over missing her grandpa and of the most amazing kiss of her life.

XXXXX

Steve lit a cigarette the moment he closed the door behind him and hurried down the porch steps back to his car. Yanking open the door, he slid into the seat, started the engine and took off down the street, frowning slightly.

_That was … fucking awful_, he thought to himself, turning left at the end of the street. He was surprised, to say the least. He had honestly believed that he and Evie were on the same page concerning their not so great relationship, and had truly thought she would be in agreement with his decision to end things.

Their dates had been disasters of late, their happiness at seeing each other non-existent, and their goodnight kisses almost tedious. They weren't happy together, not like they had both thought they would be, and Steve had thought breaking up with Evie would have turned out to be a mutual ending of their relationship.

He couldn't have been more wrong and was still shocked that Evie had _cried_ about it. She had agreed that things hadn't been the best between them but didn't think things were so bad they needed to break up over it. When she had suggested they simply try and work on everything, Steve had realised it was time to mention his other reason for ending things with her

It had been his plan all along to tell her as much of the truth as he could, he had just been hoping she would agree about them breaking up before he'd had to do it. But she hadn't and he had found himself telling Evie that there was someone else. He had refused to tell her who it was and hadn't even considered telling her about the kiss, but he had been as honest as possible and she hadn't liked any of it.

It had been a huge relief to leave.

Steve turned another corner, heading to Soda's, and still couldn't believe he had actually done it. The thought of breaking up with Evie had never even crossed his mind before. They had been together and happy until she had broken up with him two months ago. Even when they had finally gotten back together and things hadn't been as great as he had remembered, he still hadn't thought about breaking up with her.

Then these feelings for Anna had made themselves known and he hadn't been sure what to do. Half of him had wanted to end things with Evie immediately and go after what he truly wanted. The other half was unsure that would be the right thing to do, especially with the way things had been between him and Anna at the time.

But breaking up with Evie to be with Anna had been on his mind since the Saturday they had fought at the Dingo and he had finally realised what his problem was. It had been practically all he could think about since kissing her outside Buck's. Nevertheless, even with the amount of thought he had been giving it, he had still been unsure. Not of breaking up with Evie to be with Anna, but - he hated to admit it - of the rejection he might receive from Anna.

He knew she liked him, as he had originally thought. But things had changed since their fight and he just didn't know anymore. Didn't know if she still wanted him, if she was too hurt by him to be willing to give him a chance or if, in doing what he wanted, he would get exactly what he wanted.

Seeing her that day, though, at her grandpa's funeral where she hadn't looked at him once, he had known what he had to do. He had known that it wasn't fair to Evie anymore; whether she agreed with the break up or not, being with her when he wanted someone else wasn't right. And watching Anna that morning he had know that being with her was what he wanted - even if it meant rejection.

Reaching Soda's and climbing out of the car, he sighed, feeling good about being without Evie but nervous about how he was going to deal with Anna. He didn't know when he was going to see her again, not knowing when she was going to be back at school and being fairly certain it wouldn't be a good idea to go to her house. But he knew that the next time he managed to get her alone he was going to do his best to convince her to be with him.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please review :)


	31. What Hurts the Most

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or the song 'What Hurts the Most'.

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Thursday, May 5th, 1966**

Having officially been out of school for a week, Anna had decided it was time to go back. Partly because she was sick of sitting at home moping, partly because now that the funeral was over it didn't feel right to be skipping school to mope, and partly because she still didn't want to fail math and have to repeat her junior year.

Things had gone fine to begin with. Danny had dropped her off, telling her she could find him at Tim's most the day if she needed to. She had chatted with Kathy, catching up on the trivial gossip of high school including the fact that Sodapop might very well have a new girl, and that she and Two-Bit were back together. Then, after drifting through English, she'd had Science with Two-Bit who, true to form, hadn't failed to make her laugh despite the state she was in.

Now she was once again standing outside her math classroom, dreading the thought of walking in. Though, if she were truly honest with herself, what she was really dreading was the thought of walking in and seeing Steve.

Biting her lower lip, she frowned and drummed her pencil against the book in her hand, debating what approach to take once she saw him. She could just confront him about all of it and whether or not it meant anything, or she could just ignore him and pretend that nothing had happened.

She wished she had more options because neither of those particularly appealed to her.

Pushing her hair out of her face and wishing she had remembered to bring a hair tie with her, she ordered herself to stop worrying about it. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen and that was that. She would just have to deal with it. She had spent the previous night convincing herself that the kiss meant nothing to him anyway; she was prepared to hear it was the truth.

Of course, simply ordering herself to not worry about it didn't work and she began all over again. If she were honest with herself, though, she didn't mind all that much. Worrying about things with Steve was a hell of a lot easier than letting her mind drift back to Grandpa Joe.

"Hey."

A soft voice broke into her thoughts and her heart skipped a beat. Anna looked up to find Steve standing in front of her. She couldn't help that the first thought in her head was of how good he looked as he watched her with a strange look in his eyes.

She wanted to say something, anything. She wanted to ask him what the kisses meant, why he had kissed her, if _she_ meant anythingto him. She wanted to know and stop being so damn confused by it all. A niggling feeling inside also wanted to assure him that she didn't hate him.

Only instead of acting like a normal person and asking her questions or even just replying to his greeting, her hands began to shake and she took a step back from him. Something flashed in his eyes as she did but she didn't bother to hang around to try figure it out; instead, she held her book closer to her chest and walked past him into the classroom.

_Way to go,_ she thought to herself as she climbed into her seat, avoiding looking at Steve as he made his way to his seat next to her; _if he thought you were alright before he sure doesn't now_.

Sighing, she felt relieved when the final bell rang and even more relieved when Mr. Chase made it obvious that he was actually going to teach them something that day rather than let them work alone.

Opening her notebook she let her hair hang over her right shoulder, effectively shielding her face from Steve as she began taking notes.

_Goddamn it_, she thought,_ I'm such an idiot._

XXXXX

"Ready for this?" Danny asked later that day as he parked his car outside Evie's house.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Hardly," she muttered.

"Too bad, kid, let's go."

She sighed and climbed out of the car, birthday cake in hand, before following him across the street, hating the mere thought of going inside for Uncle Alf's birthday dinner and having to deal with watching Steve and Evie be all cute and disgusting.

Admittedly, it would serve her right for the way she had treated him that day. Just two weeks ago she had told him how they were supposed to be friends and that he had to stop starting fights with her … ignoring his greeting then ignoring him during the entire class was hardly friendly behaviour.

"Don't think too much about it, Miss B. It ain't gonna be that bad," Danny said, knocking on the door they were already in front of.

"For you maybe," she said as the door opened to reveal their Aunt Helen.

"You're here!" she exclaimed happily. "Come in, come in."

She ushered them inside and Anna and Danny reluctantly entered. Dinner at the Stewart's was an occurrence that happened more than either of them liked, but they always put up with it seeing as it was basically the only family stability they'd had other than Grandpa Joe.

At that thought Anna realised that dinner that night was probably a good thing - despite the constricting feeling in her stomach.

"Through here," Aunt Helen said, taking the cake from Anna's hands and directing them to the living room where Uncle Alf and Evie's younger brother William were watching television.

Sitting on the couch next to Will, Anna took calming breaths and wondered where Steve and Evie were. She figured they must be late; it was highly unlikely for them to both be in the kitchen helping Aunt Helen and there was no way in hell they would be in Evie's bedroom while her parents were home.

After a few minutes of sitting and listening half-heartedly to Danny and Uncle Alf chat, Anna made her way into the kitchen.

"Need any help?" she asked, knowing she would be turned away, like always.

"Oh, no, you just sit down," Aunt Helen said cheerfully.

Anna did as she was told and sat at the dinner table. "Where's Evie tonight?" she asked, deciding not to mention Steve's name.

"Oh," Aunt Helen turned from the pot she was stirring to look at her niece. "She's up in her bedroom. I'm afraid she and Steve broke up last night."

"What?" Anna was on her feet in seconds. "I - can I go see her?"

"Of course dear," Aunt Helen said and Anna made her way down the hall, wondering what the hell was going on.

Knocking on the door, she ignored Evie's plea to leave her alone and went in anyway.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting on the edge of Evie's bed.

Fresh tears filled Evie's eyes and Anna could tell she had already done a fair bit of crying. Her face was splotchy and her eyes were red and puffy.

"He dumped me," she said sadly. "Steve dumped me."

"Why?" She didn't know what else to say and had no idea what to think. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was surprised Evie couldn't hear it.

Evie wiped at her tears with a few tissues. "There's someone else," she said. "I mean, he said it hadn't been working between us but I disagreed, then he said he liked someone else."

"Someone else?"

Evie nodded. "He wouldn't even tell me who. Just that he liked someone else and, even if they didn't like him back, it wasn't fair to stay with me when it wasn't what he wanted, when he couldn't give me what I deserved anymore."

"Oh."

Evie started crying again and fell into Anna's hug while Anna sat there feeling like the world's biggest hypocrite. She wasn't positive, but she was pretty damn sure Steve had been talking about her, that he had broken up with Evie because of her.

She didn't know it for a fact but, really, what other girl was there in his life right then? As far as Anna knew, only his girlfriend and the girl he had kissed outside Buck's.

Guilt flooded her as she thought about that and she sighed, patting Evie's back. She could admit that Steve breaking up with Evie had been a little fantasy of hers for a while now but she had never actually expected it to happen … especially after everything they had gone through to get Evie back with him. Now that it might have happened, she didn't know what to think or feel about this whole situation.

_But who said he broke up with her for you?_ a small voice in her head reminded her and she knew it was right. They might have kissed, they might have had an incredibly intense moment that night and she couldn't think of anyone else it might have been, but there was no certainty of anything.

He had broken up with Evie but that didn't really change things between the two of them. He hadn't come to see her since kissing her and there had been no movement made by him to show her that she actually meant something to him, something more than just a friend.

She wanted him, really wanted him, but every day she was becoming less and less sure about how he thought of her. They had danced and it had caused her to get her hopes up. They had kissed and for a short while she had thought it might have meant something to him. Now, having him not come see her the whole time she wasn't at school, she just didn't know and she was confused.

Reaching over to grab some fresh tissues for Evie, she tried to push thoughts of Steve out of her head for the time being. She would go see him after dinner and try to find out what was going on. She didn't know what she would say or what he would say but decided she would deal with that when she got there.

XXXXX

Having finished work almost an hour ago, Steve lit the smoke he was holding and took a long drag, watching the burning embers glow in the darkness and thinking about Anna. It was hardly surprising; the damn girl had been filling his thoughts almost constantly lately. While he was at work, while he was doing homework, even while he was asleep she still managed to sneak her way into his mind.

Taking another drag and flicking away the ashes, he scowled and pushed the memory of the previous night's steamy dream out of his mind.

It was just about killing him. He and Evie hadn't had the chance to have sex while they had been together this time and, though he was thankful for that now that he wanted to be with Anna, it was causing him serious issues every time he thought about Anna and the way she felt pressed against him.

He sighed, almost willing to go without her pressing against him ever again if she would just talk to him … almost.

She hadn't spoken to him since that night at Buck's and it was getting to him. He had hardly expected her to make her way over to speak to him at her grandpa's funeral but when he had tried talking to her at school that day he had really thought she would say something.

Or maybe he didn't.

They had hardly left things on good terms last week, and he supposed he wasn't exactly her biggest concern right then. It made sense that she hadn't spoken to him after the way he had just kissed her. It especially made sense if she was still angry at him like she was that night.

A car pulling up on the road in front of him had Steve jerking his head up; it was much too early for his dad to be finishing work. He was surprised to see Danny Harris' Buick parked on the side of the road and Anna sitting in the passenger seat.

Heart in his throat, he stood up and watched her say something to Danny before climbing out of the car and watching him drive off. She kept her back to him for a few moments and Steve stayed where he was, deciding he was going to go with whatever she initiated this time.

Finally, she turned toward him and Steve cursed the darkness for making it impossible for him to see her properly. She made her way toward him, though, and Steve's stomach dropped at the look on her face.

She wasn't there to tell him how she felt or even just to talk to him; she was pissed off and the only reason he could think of was that it was probably at him for kissing her. He hated that idea because all he wanted to do upon seeing her was kiss her again.

"Hey," he said, taking a step forward to meet her and throwing away the butt of his smoke.

"You broke up with Evie?" she asked immediately.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah."

She shook her head and he didn't understand at all. Surely that should have made her happy. It was what she wanted … wasn't it?

"Why? Why did you break up with her?"

She looked so frustrated with him that Steve actually wondered for a minute if she had forgotten everything that had happened between them, or if he had just made it up and it was all in his head.

"Anna," he said, stepping closer to her, "we kissed."

She wavered for a moment before speaking. "That doesn't matter," she said.

"It doesn't matter?" he asked, knowing his voice had taken on an edge.

She swallowed. "It was just a kiss, wasn't it?" she asked as if daring him to say otherwise.

Steve shook his head. "Did you really expect me to stay with Evie after technically cheating on her?"

"I - that's not what I meant," she muttered.

"Then what did you mean?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "That the kiss meant nothing, so there was no need to ruin a relationship over it?"

Anna's brow furrowed and he knew he had hurt her with his words.

"Isn't that exactly how it is, though?" she asked.

Steve frowned. He didn't get her at all. He thought this was what she wanted; for him to break up with Evie and be with her … he was _sure_ that was what she wanted. But she was angry at him for breaking up with Evie and thought that he thought the kiss meant nothing?

Running a hand through his hair he realised then that he would never understand girls.

"Well?" she asked.

He looked at her, green eyes wide with apprehension, teeth digging into her bottom lip. He was annoyed and confused, but he still wanted to be the one nibbling on her lip the way she was and he wanted to ease her worry and make her realise what she already knew.

His heart thudded at the thought of telling her everything, but he knew he had to do it. If he ever really wanted her he had to, for once in his life, take the emotional risk and make a huge move.

"You know the kiss meant something," he said quietly. "But the fact that I cheated isn't exactly why I broke up with Evie."

"It's not?"

He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure you already know why I broke up with her but I get the feeling you ain't gonna believe it until I say it …"

He trailed off, hoping she would tell him differently so he wouldn't have to do this. She didn't and he found himself taking a breath and continuing.

"Shit, Anna, you know she's not the one I want. You know that and you've known it since I kissed you last week." He fought a smirk at the pretty blush that made its way to her cheeks. "Damn, I don't even know what happened. One day we're friends, the next I'm thinking that you like me as more than a friend -"

"I -"

"- and that's fine," he interrupted, needing to say his piece. "No problem. But, a day later, after a simple dance with you, I'm imagining all sorts of things about you that I should only be thinking about my girlfriend."

Her blush deepened and he ran a hand through his hair, knowing if he stopped now, he would stop forever.

"A week later, after denying that I was jealous about you and Soda, I hear you talking about your feelings for him and realise that I _was_ jealous and all this want I had for you wasn't just physical." He paused, realising this was the perfect time to tell her the truth about that day.

"The words 'not good enough for him' were not going through my head when I couldn't finish my sentence that day, Anna," he said, circling his fingers around her wrist.

She swallowed. "What was?"

He took a breath. "Soda's my best friend," he told her, repeating what he had said that day, "and you're mine."

She was silent as she stared up at him but Steve figured it was best to not say anything else and let her process what he'd said. He hoped he'd done the right thing by being honest with her. Wasn't that what relationships were all about? Honesty?

"You're lying," she finally said.

He pulled her closer with the hand on her wrist until she was right in front of him. "Why would I lie?"

"I - I don't know."

"Because you know I wouldn't," he said in a low voice, stroking her pulse point with his thumb. "I broke up with Evie because I wanted to be with someone else; because I want to be with you."

She took a step back and he let her wrist slip from his grasp with a sigh. He wasn't going to hold her against her will like he had at Buck's. Sure, doing it then might have been right at the time, but he still wasn't sure how she felt about those kisses or him doing it now.

"Anna," he said softly when she wouldn't look at him.

She shook her head. "I can't do this right now," she said and looked at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here tonight."

Before he could think to say or do anything to stop her, she was running across his front lawn and down the street, away from him.

XXXXX

_Shit_, Anna thought to herself as she collapsed on the porch steps of her house. That had not gone as expected. Not that she had really known what to expect, but it definitely hadn't been that. To hear Steve say everything he had said was …

She didn't even know what it was or how to describe it, only that it had shocked her to the core. Sure it was pretty much what she had logically figured out without giving herself the chance to get her hopes up, but hearing the words come out of his mouth, hearing his voice say those words … her hands were still shaking at just the memory of it.

He had said he wanted to be with her and she had … she had run off. Raking a hand through her hair she took a calming breath, actually pleased with herself for acting like an idiot and taking off rather than sticking around to act like an idiot in front of him and say or do something even more stupid than what she already had.

"Shit," she muttered to herself, resting her hands on the porch step she was sitting on and leaning forward.

She never should have gone around there, not in the state she was in. Her grandpa had died only a week ago; trying to deal with her feelings for a boy right now was just plain stupid. She _couldn't_ deal with her feelings for him; that had been made obvious by her crazy behaviour. It was too much and she needed a break from all of the emotional drama.

She needed to sort herself out. She needed to take some time and just relax. She needed to deal with the grief she was feeling.

She needed … _him_.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-ing, she deserves a million gold stars for how awesome she's been lately. Also thanks to lox who probably doesn't remember, but did help me name this chapter, lol.

I know a lot of you are hanging out for Steve and Anna to get together, but I just want to point out that I'm trying to do this reasonably realistic, and falling in love overnight isn't realistic. Well, not for these two anyway. I hope you're all still enjoying this and please review :)


	32. Light My Fire

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or 'Light my Fire' by The Doors

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Friday, May 6th, 1966

Under the pretence of needing to catch up on all the schoolwork she had missed during the last week, Anna had skipped out on school that Friday. Even though she _had_ spent the day doing all the schoolwork she could - except for some of the math work which, she hated to admit, she needed her tutor's help with - her reasoning for staying home was an out and out lie made obvious by the fact that the next two days were the weekend and the perfect time for catching up on schoolwork and the fact that she was only missing more schoolwork by taking the day off.

Thankfully, her want to get the schoolwork out of the way before the weekend had helped her need to _not_ think about Steve. He had, of course, popped into her head all throughout the day, but she had quickly pushed all thoughts of him away, promising herself that she would sit down and calmly think about him - and everything that went with him - once her school work was finished.

She wouldn't, of course. Sitting down and thinking things through was hardly her style. Pacing, stressing, wondering what the hell to do next and making rash decisions was more like her. Not only that but she had finished her schoolwork almost two hours ago and had yet to start purposefully thinking about Steve, preferring to keep her mind busy with baking instead.

Only now it was dark and had been for some time and she really, _really_ wanted to get the Steve stuff sorted out that day. She didn't know how to sort it or what would happen once it was sorted but she had promised herself that it would get done, just like her schoolwork.

She _needed _to get it done, possibly for her own sanity.

Finishing up the dishes she was doing, she wiped her hands on a towel before taking out the apple crumble she had made Danny and her dad for a late dessert. It wasn't often she made anything with her dad in mind but he had basically left her alone this last week and she was feeling grateful for it. Placing it on the stove to cool, she chucked the towel on the counter and dusted her hands on her apron.

She looked at the clock; 8:44pm. She pulled open the curtain to look for Danny's car and found nothing. She glanced around the kitchen, seeing the two cakes and batch of biscuits she had made that were cooling and the clean dishes she had washed half an hour ago.

There was nothing left to do.

She untied her apron and tossed it over the back of a chair before heading outside, pleased for the cool air and solitude. There was nothing to distract her anymore and, if she were honest with herself, she didn't want anything to distract her anymore … she _wanted_ to think about Steve.

She _missed_ thinking about Steve because she missed him.

She wanted to be with him. She had known that for a long time now and, as she sat on the porch in the dark, she wondered if she had messed everything up by running away from him the night before.

He had opened up to her about how he felt. He had more than opened up; he had practically gone on a spiel that he had seemingly needed to get out before he could allow himself to stop. He had been honest and genuine and open and completely unlike Steve. He had trusted her with his feelings … and she had run off.

Her face flushed with embarrassment over how completely gutless she had been, but it didn't matter. She knew she had been wrong in doing it but also knew it had needed to be done. She had been in no frame of mind to be dealing with emotions and she really should have thought about that before going to his house in the first place. But she hadn't and it had resulted in her freaking out and just leaving him there.

"Jesus," she muttered.

She hadn't known what to do and all she could think of at the time was how she just couldn't deal with what he was saying. She was trying to deal with losing her grandpa, which was hard enough, adding a boy to the mix just made everything that much harder.

But now, even though she had spent the day trying to not think about him, she knew that she needed him to help her deal with Grandpa Joe's death.

"Hey." Danny's voice came from in front of her.

She looked up. "Hey, I didn't even hear you pull up."

"I noticed. You alright?"

She nodded as he sat next to her. "I'm fine."

The last thing she wanted, or needed, was Danny on her case about the whole thing. He hadn't said a word about catching her kissing Steve since she had ignored his questions a few days ago and she wasn't in the mood to find out how he felt about the situation.

"Gotta say," Danny said, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them, "I feel much better knowin' I ain't getting back with Ruth anytime soon."

Anna smirked. "Plus, you know, the fact that you ain't about to be a dad at eighteen."

"That too," he said with a grin.

Anna thought back to the night they had found out Ruth was lying about being pregnant, her mind immediately skipping over the heartache of Grandpa Joe and landing on how good she had felt when Steve had kissed her. How she wanted to feel that good again.

Only getting up and doing something about it was a lot harder than she was ready to deal with.

As much as she loved and had needed her brother, she was glad it had been Steve who had found her that night. The memory of the kisses they had shared had been the only thing making her feel good in the last week. Speaking of which …

She awkwardly faced Danny. "Remember the night - the night you found me with Steve?" she asked, more willing to bring up being caught by her brother with a boy than anything about her grandpa dying.

Danny gave her a look.

"Right, of course." She rolled her eyes at herself. Just because she wasn't willing to say the words didn't mean they had forgotten. "Anyway, I was wondering," she continued, somewhat nervously, "why was he there? He - he said he knew about Grandpa but … how?"

"I told him," Danny said, giving her a long look. "I know you said only a few weeks ago that the two of you ain't close, but when I got home and found out what'd happened, his place was the first place I looked."

"Really?"

"Yeah; obviously you weren't there but he wanted to know what was going on, and I told him. When he wanted to help me find you I wasn't about to tell him no, so I sent him to the Dingo and Buck's while I went to check Grandpa Joe's house."

"That's why it took you so long to get to Buck's," she said. "I knew I wouldn't be able to hide out there forever but I had figured it'd be you or maybe even Kathy or Tim to find me there … not Steve."

"Sorry, kid."

"I didn't mean nothin' by it," she said. "Just that Steve finding me hadn't been what I had expected."

Danny shrugged. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. But I can't say I'm sorry for sending Steve; I ain't."

"Me neither," she said softly.

"Even if I did have to see the two of you going at it," he continued, smirking at her.

"Shut up," she muttered, trying to shove his shoulder with her own but not getting far.

He shoved her back playfully before turning serious. "I meant it, though," he said. "I really ain't sorry I sent him. I could tell while I was at his place that he cared about ya." He paused with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Of course I didn't realise just how much he cared until he turned up at the funeral the other day."

Anna snorted. "He wasn't at the funeral."

"Yes, he was." Danny gave her a strange look and she shook her head.

"No. I mean, I know there were a lot of people there, but not Steve."

Danny turned to lean against the porch post. "Shoot, how out of it were you? He was there, along with Kathy."

She swallowed. She had been in a bit of a haze that day more than she had been the rest of the week, but …

"Kathy _and_ Steve?"

Danny nodded. "I know you didn't speak to anyone but you really didn't see them?"

She frowned and thought back to the day of the funeral. She hardly remembered a thing other than the stupid box she had kept her eyes on most of the time and Danny's arm that had been slung around her shoulders.

"I dunno. Maybe I did but …"

"You don't remember?" he finished for her and she nodded.

Turning away from her brother she looked out at the road in front of her, heart pounding. He had come to the funeral? She didn't know why, but that simple fact changed everything.

"Steve was really there?" she asked, glancing at Danny.

"He was there."

She frowned. That changed everything. It changed everything and gave her the courage she needed.

XXXXX

Steve was over it.

Sitting back down on the steps of the porch, he uncapped the bottle of whiskey he had grabbed from his bedroom and took a swig. It was the moment the bottle touched his lips that he remembered it was the same bottle he had shared with Anna and used to clean her cut so long ago.

"Goddamn it," he muttered, swiping the back of his arm across his mouth where a drop of the liquor had escaped.

He couldn't believe she had just run away the night before. Not only was it completely unlike her to take the coward's way out of anything, but he had really thought she felt the same and would tell him so.

He had acted like a complete pansy with all the shit he had spat out about wanting to be with her. Forget that it had been true; it had been damn embarrassing when she had up and taken off.

Now she didn't even want to see him. At least that was what he had figured when she hadn't turned up at school that day; that she was avoiding him. He could hardly blame her there, he was pretty damn eager to avoid her also. He would have stayed home from school himself that day had he not had too much pride to not show his face.

Now, after not being able to think of anything other than '_what the fuck?_' the night before and going over the whole situation in his head all day at school and all evening while taking an extra shift at work, he was trying to ease some of his own tension.

Talking with Soda hadn't helped; his best buddy had tried, but he was way too happy about his new girl Sandy, and Steve had felt bad for not sharing his good mood.

Taking another drink, Steve was once again glad his dad had been leaving for the pub just as he had arrived home from work. The old man wouldn't be home till early morning and Steve figured he'd spend the night unwinding and forgetting about Anna.

All that reckoning went out the window when he saw her appear at the edge of his front yard and begin to make her way over to him. His heart began thudding right away but he ignored it and lifted the bottle back to his lips.

"Hey," she said softly but he just glared at her.

"Um …" she trailed off and he was glad to see she was uncomfortable. "Do you think we could talk?"

He put the bottle down and stared at her. "Whaddya want, Anna?"

"I don't hate you," she said, softly but firmly.

Steve ignored the feeling of relief that flowed through him. He'd hardly given it any thought and had known she hadn't meant it when she'd said she hated him, but hearing her assure him sure felt good.

"And I'm sorry," she said quickly. "About taking off last night; I shouldn't have done it."

"Doesn't matter," he said with a shrug.

She frowned. "Of course it matters. After everything you said -"

He cut her off by standing abruptly and stepping down the steps to stand in front of her, hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets as his stomach twisted. "I said it's fine."

"No, it's not," she said, stepping closer to him. "Everything you said to me … it was so brave of you to do and I just took off, which was completely gutless." She took a breath. "After everything you've done for me … you - you came to the funeral."

"Yeah." _Obviously._

"I didn't know," she said, blushing and continuing at the look he gave her. "I mean, I might have known and seen you there but I was so messed up and not paying attention to anything but the fact that my grandpa was lying in the box in front of me."

She looked as though she was fighting tears and Steve's fingers itched to reach forward and take her hand. He stayed where he was, though; after baring himself to her the night before he wasn't going to just forgive her right away.

"Why did you come?" she asked after a moment. "You didn't even know him."

That threw him off. "I … just in case."

She stepped forward so that there was only a foot between them. "Just in case what?"

He didn't want to tell her but found the words spilling out of his mouth before he could even think about it.

"Just in case you needed me."

XXXXX

Her breath caught and she had to stop herself from throwing herself into his arms.

He had come to the funeral - her grandpa's funeral, the funeral of a man he had never met - just in case she needed him.

"Steve." His name came out in a breath and she didn't know what else to say. What else was there to say?

He sighed loudly. "You know what? It doesn't even matter. You still left last night when I acted like a complete idiot and I think you should do the same now."

Her jaw dropped as he turned away from her and stalked up the steps and inside. He couldn't just leave like that! They had to talk, figure things out. She might not have been the kind to think things through, but they needed to decide where to go from there and what should happen next.

Like a bolt of lightening, it hit Anna that the time for talking was gone.

Steve had never been much for talking to begin with, only occasionally mentioning something important to her during the last two months of their friendship. He had always let her talk and chatter on about anything, but up until last night he had always been an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of guy.

There was his kindness in taking her out of town after he had walked in on her fight with her dad, the way he had taken her hand and cleaned her cut when her dad had hit her, the fact that it had been he who had come after her that night at the drive-in and the mind-blowing kiss he had given her outside of Buck's that, had she been coherent enough to think through, should have told her everything she had been needing to know.

The whole realisation hit her in seconds flat and she glanced up in time to see the screen door slamming shut. Glancing at the drive she felt both relieved and terrified to find his dad's car gone.

Quickly, she picked up the bottle of whiskey he had left on the porch and took a mouthful, grimacing at the taste. _Liquid courage and all that,_ she thought to herself, taking a deep breath before hurrying up the steps and into the house, firmly closing and locking the door behind her.

He turned to face her just as he was about to walk into what she assumed was his bedroom and raised an eyebrow.

"You seriously just followed me into my house?"

She nodded, bit her lower lip and waited as he frowned at her, shook his head and continued into his bedroom. She followed, a million butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the idea of being in his room. Ignoring them, she walked through the doorway and closed the door behind her.

"Shit, Anna," he said. "You can't just follow someone into their house after they ask you to leave … you especially can't follow someone into their bedroom."

She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, hoping he wouldn't see how nervous she was. "Why not?"

He gave her a look that either showed how much he wanted to grab her and throw her out the window or how much he wanted to grab her and kiss her. She didn't know which it was but her heart sped up anyway.

"You just can't," he said roughly, raking a hand through his hair. "You need to leave."

She decided to give talking one more go. "Do you really want me to?"

He didn't answer.

Gathering up all the courage she had, she kept eye contact with him and vowed to do so throughout the entire exchange … however it turned out.

"Because I don't think you do."

He sneered. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

As slowly as she could so as not to lose control of herself but not slow enough so he could see her shaking, she lifted one hand to the top button of her blouse, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on his.

"What are you doing?" He all but snapped at her as the top button came free.

She swallowed, the fear of rejection rolling around in her stomach. "Proving my point."

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "How mature of you."

She gave him half a smile and unsnapped the next button, knowing the swell of her breasts would become visible. He said nothing more but his eyes flickered down to where her hand rested and the skin showing before moving back to her eyes.

"If you really want me to go, just say so," she said, forcing a smirk.

He said nothing so she moved her hand lower. _This is it_, she told herself. One more button, one more chance, then she was going. He wasn't exactly telling her to leave, but him just standing there saying nothing with a blank look on his face was just as good as an outright rejection when she was undressing herself in front of him.

She undid the third button and he finally, _finally_ reacted.

"Anna." She was sure he practically growled her name as he took a step forward and her heart sped up even more.

Looking in his eyes she saw the same look he had given her after their dance at his birthday party, the same look he'd had in his eyes when he had almost kissed her on his front porch so long ago.

She knew he didn't want her to go, could see it in his eyes … but she needed to hear it. She needed the words.

"Do you want me to go?"

He looked up from where his eyes had travelled to the skin she was showing and she blushed.

"No," he said, stepping right in front of her, "not ever."

His lips were on hers not a second later and it was damn near heaven.

* * *

*Dances happily and politely asks for reviews*

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for betaing.


	33. I Hear the Bells

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'I Hear the Bells' by Mike Doughty.

**A/N 1:** This chapter contains sexual references. Nothing past the T rating it has :)

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* * *

Saturday, May 7th, 1966**

With an unimpressed frown on is face, Steve rolled over and turned off the alarm clock before flopping back into his bed and snuggling back into the warm body next to him.

_Anna._

He sighed with satisfaction as he thought her name, running his hand over her back as she lay on her stomach next to him. He was still in awe of what had happened the night before; of the way she had so boldly followed him into his bedroom and made her move, as if she had known he wouldn't be able to turn her away.

And he hadn't. He had known as soon as he had walked inside that he was being an idiot - only just stopping himself from going back outside and dragging her inside - and had known the moment he realised she had followed him inside that he wouldn't turn her away again. He had, however, done his very best to _not_ give in straight away to her and the incredible skin she had been showing.

It didn't last though. There had been no chance of it lasting but he had done his best to stand his ground and not give in - a part of him fighting his sexual urges and still being angry, wanting her to know what the rejection had felt like.

Of course once he had given in, he had wished he had done so earlier.

Moving closer, he continued trailing is hand up and down her back while watching her sleep and wondered how much things would change now. It had been big and somewhat difficult for him to adjust when they had become friends, would being more than friends be just as hard to adjust to?

Somehow he doubted it. Becoming friends with Anna had never been his plan and he had been reluctant about it even when he'd agreed with her that rainy day in his car that they were, in fact, friends now. Being _with_ her was what he wanted and, as he ran his fingers through her messy hair, he was pretty certain the only thing he was going to have difficulty with while being with her was keeping his hands off of her.

He couldn't get enough of her and he felt kind of stupid for it. It had never been like this with Evie. He had liked Evie a lot, but he had never been this foolishly happy just about being with her. He had never wanted to spend the day in bed just touching her soft skin and making her feel good, even if it meant getting nothing out of it himself.

He remembered when he and Evie had gotten back together; he hadn't been _remotely_ this happy then.

Glancing over his shoulder at the clock, he knew he had to get up and shower before work, no matter how much he wanted to spend the day in bed with Anna.

He watched as she frowned slightly and rolled onto her back and he couldn't help but stare as his hand now rested on her naked abdomen, itching to touch more. Pulling his hand away he ran it through his hair and turned away to sit on the edge of the bed.

He wanted to wake her before his shower and have a repeat performance of last night and there was evidence of just how much he wanted to do that. But a softer side of him - a side he wasn't at all used to - seemed to come out when she was around and he also wanted to let her sleep.

It had been after 1am when they had finally fallen asleep. After Anna had practically seduced him - he smirked at that thought - they had lain in bed and talked about nothing. No important conversation had spilled softly from their lips and, unlike his dates with Evie where the conversation had been just as trivial, Steve hadn't minded. They had kissed and talked and gotten to know the little things about each other and, even then, Steve had had a hard time not touching her.

After an hour or so of lying together, Steve had made good on his whispered promise to pay every inch of her body the attention it deserved. Their first time together had been urgent, needy, desperate - and he'd vowed to take his time with her the next time, doing exactly as he had promised. Smirking again, he silently made thanks to being a healthy seventeen year old guy.

Turning slightly, he pulled the blanket up to cover Anna as she rolled onto her side and burrowed into his pillow. Standing up, he grabbed his towel and wrapped it around himself as he watched her. Seeing her in _his_ bed, snuggling into _his_ pillow with _his_ blankets wrapped around her naked body … it did strange things to him. Good things, but strange things, and he was suddenly glad that the handful of times he and Evie'd had sex had been in his car, not his bed.

He headed to the door, abruptly stopping as he wondered if she would still be there when he came back. So far Anna had shown she had a tendency to run off when things got a little out of control. There had been the night they had almost kissed, the dance at his birthday party and just the other night when he had told her how he felt.

He looked back at her again, his chest clenching, remembering the look that had come into her eyes when he had told her why he had been at her grandpa's funeral.

She had always been fairly easy to read; every emotion seemed to pour out of her eyes, able to be seen by anyone who was looking hard enough - even if he _hadn't_ been looking hard enough lately. After finding out that he had been at her grandpa's funeral in case she needed him, she had looked as though she had wanted to kiss him, never let him go and cry all at the same time. He had seen then what he had always known - that his feelings for her were most definitely returned.

He couldn't completely get rid of his doubt, but he was pretty sure she would stick around this time.

XXXXX

Anna didn't quite know what to make of waking up alone the next morning. She didn't have the 'waking up in a strange place and wondering where the hell she was' moment that people claimed to have. Instead she relished in the half-awake half-asleep state for a moment before her mind cleared and she woke up completely, knowing exactly where she was and realising she was completely alone.

She frowned and sat up, holding the sheet that was covering her to her chest. Had she been in any other place with any other guy she truly would have wondered if she had been ditched after putting out. But she was at Steve's; he could hardly ditch her in his own house.

_Plus_, she reminded herself, _he wants you. He cares about you._

Running a hand through her knotty hair, she thought for a moment and glanced at the clock. It was just after seven in the morning and they hadn't fallen asleep until well after midnight so she didn't understand why he would be out of bed already.

She shivered a little as the memories of the night before came back to her. Her boldness when she had followed Steve into his bedroom, his eagerness when he had kissed her and then when he had …

"Oh god," she muttered, resting her hand on her forehead.

She'd slept with Steve. She'd had _sex_ with Steve.

Her heart lurched at that thought, disgustingly happy and completely terrified at the same time. What if he had changed his mind? What if everything he had said had changed once they had slept together? What if sleeping with her had got the want he'd had to be with her out of his system and that was that?

That would be some karma and she was pretty sure she would deserve it. She had slept with her cousin's ex-boyfriend. She felt bad about it, sure, so bad that it was beginning to make her feel a little nauseous. She hated what they had done to Evie and how hurt she was going to be when they told her. As happy as she was that she and Steve were together and as much as she wouldn't give it up for anything, she really, _really_ hated that it had come about the way it had.

They would have to tell her. They would have to explain what had happened between them and why. Steve would have to tell her that Anna was the girl he had broken up with her for and Anna would have to tell her that she'd had feelings for her boyfriend since that horrible double date.

Her guilt over Evie and insecurity over Steve mixed into one and she frowned at the thought that came to her; what if he realised he had made a mistake and it was still Evie he wanted? That he had chosen the wrong cousin?

She didn't know how she would handle that; with the pain of Grandpa Joe dying still so fresh, Steve changing his mind or wanting Evie back would be too much. Purposefully, she pushed any thoughts of Evie out of her head; she would deal with her guilt later … when she wasn't stressing out that Steve had changed his mind about her.

Scowling, she lay back in the bed and tried to calm herself down. Steve wasn't like that and she knew it. He cared about her and had for a while. They had been friends before these feelings came into it and he wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt her. He wanted to be with her.

Of course the logic behind her own lecture only helped her insecurity a little and she was still worrying when the door finally opened and Steve came in, carrying a glass of orange juice and kicking the door closed behind him.

She quickly sat up again, sheet clutched tightly to her chest as he stood at the door in nothing but a towel, drops of water still dripping from his wet hair onto his shoulders. She couldn't help but stare a little as he stood there and she fought the wicked urge she had to lick away the droplet of water she could see running over his collarbone.

"Morning'," he said, smirking at her.

Despite the talking to she had given herself, a relieved sigh still fell from her lips at the fact that he _was_ there and hadn't left her.

"Morning," she said, blushing at being caught checking him out, her stupid thoughts that he hadn't even heard, and still being naked beneath the sheet.

He came to sit next to her but facing her on the bed and she took the drink he offered as her eyes continued to glance over the skin she hadn't been able to see all that well in the darkness the night before. She took a long drink and looked away, remembering the feel of it against her own and placing the glass on his bedside table.

"Hey." Steve wrapped his fingers around the wrist of her free hand, enticing her to look at him.

So she did. She raised her eyes to meet his and wished, not for the first time, that he showed more emotion than he did. His gaze wasn't completely blank and he seemed to be searching her eyes for something, but she couldn't tell anything else and really wished she could.

He seemed to find whatever he was looking for when he reached forward to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He tugged slightly at the end of the strands before kissing her softly.

At the touch of his lips she no longer cared that she was naked under the sheet; she melted into him, leaning close and wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer. He indulged her for a few moments before pulling his lips away and resting his forehead against hers, his hands running up and down her bare sides.

"Why are you up so damn early?" she muttered.

He smirked and kissed her forehead before pulling right back and standing up. "I have to be at work in -" he glanced at the clock "- half an hour."

"Oh." She pulled the sheet back up.

His smirk grew as he grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and the work shirt she had pulled off of him the night before. "As much as I would _love_ to _not_ get dressed and crawl back into bed with you, I can't."

"Oh," she said again, heart fluttering at his words.

He gave her a look which she ignored before dropping his towel and pulling on some underwear and jeans. Trying not to stare, Anna looked down and tapped her index finger against her leg.

He really did care about her, she knew that, but the nagging insecurity had come back the moment he had stopped touching her. He had been so distant and angry to begin with the night before, only changing his ways once she had blatantly offered sex to him. Deep down she knew he wanted more than that but …

"Hey," he said again as he sat down, still holding his shirt. "Nothin's changed."

She looked at him, a warm feeling of surprise flowing through her at the concern that showed in his eyes.

"You still wanna be with me?" she asked, feeling stupid

"I still wanna be with you," he repeated, his rough hand sliding over her exposed hip. "So long as you still want me?"

She shivered at his touch and gave a firm nod. "Just making sure," she whispered.

"You don't gotta worry," he said, eyes serious and dark as he leaned in to kiss her again.

She believed him. How could she not?

XXXXX

"Your dad didn't cause you too much trouble when you got home did he?" Steve asked Anna later that night as she lay in his arms.

"No, he didn't even know I was out all night."

"Good." He continued making swirling patterns on her bare shoulder as they talked. "What about Danny? He know you were out?"

Anna nodded against his shoulder. "Mhmm, but with everything he said about you last night he had no one but himself to blame for me spending the night with you."

"Oh yeah?" Steve was intrigued.

"He seems to think you care about me."

Steve swallowed. It wasn't a question but it was definitely an open statement. He had told her in the past, when they had only been friends, that he cared about her, but saying it now seemed like a big deal.

He took a breath. "I do," he said, threading his fingers through hers.

She rearranged herself on to her stomach and elbows so she could see him. "How bad do you think it'll be?" she asked. "Tellin' Evie?"

Steve sighed. They had agreed on the drive to Anna's that morning to wait to tell Evie about them on Sunday night. Anna had been unsure, worrying that perhaps they should tell her straight away but it hadn't taken Steve much to convince her otherwise.

"Everyone's gonna find out at school on Monday anyway," he had said. "After everything that was said and done last night, I ain't about to keep us bein' together a secret." He had paused then, liking the small smile that played on her lips. "Last night was pretty great and I think we oughta make the most outta the rest of the weekend - try and make it just as good. I have a feelin' things might get a bit hard once Evie finds out about us."

Anna had agreed then but pointed out that they shouldn't really tell anyone else until Evie knew. She had been right, of course, and until Evie found out tomorrow night, the only other people to know were Danny and Soda. Soda had been more than happy for him, too, telling him it was about damn time they'd sorted their shit out.

"It'll be fine," he said, as she continued watching him. "I mean, it won't be great, but there's nothin' we can do about it either way. You're my girl now, Anna; Evie's just gotta deal with that."

"I just feel so bad," she said.

So did Steve, but as he watched her look down at her hands and worry her lip between her teeth, he wondered, just like he had that morning, how much her guilt was going to affect what they now had.

He didn't want to ask, he really didn't, but this was one of those few times he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Bad enough to take it back?" he asked.

Her eyes flew to his and he had his answer immediately. "No, of course not."

He nodded, feeling more relieved than he should have over something he should have known. Dragging his fingers down her spine, he looked away from her intense look and mentally rolled his eyes at himself. She wouldn't have been there with him right then if her guilt was going to keep her away.

"I never got the chance to thank you," she said softly, "for being at the funeral. I might not even remember you being there, but it means a lot to me that you were."

He looked back at her, hating that she looked as though she were fighting tears. He still wasn't used to seeing Anna cry and hoped he never had to get used to it.

"As if I would have been anywhere else," he said. "'Course at the time I wasn't sure you would've wanted me there, considering what happened last time we saw each other."

"That week, between him dying and the funeral, it was real hard," she said, looking back at her hands, almost as if she were forcing the words out. "The whole time I had this horrible feeling in my chest and it was constant. Ever since Dad got the phone call from the hospital, it was just always there." She looked back up at him. "The only time it ever really dulled was when I thought about that kiss outside Buck's."

He knew then just how serious things were between them and how quickly it had happened, and he didn't mind one bit. He considered asking her which kiss she meant but decided against it; he was pretty sure he knew anyway. The first kiss had been great and, up until the night before, the best kiss of his life. That second kiss outside Buck's, though, had been different and closer to what she had needed at the time than the first one.

"Hey," he said, wanting to get rid of the sad look on her face, "did I tell ya Danny gave me his version of 'the talk' when I got to your house tonight?"

She raised an eyebrow and grinned. "His version? How exactly did that go?"

Steve smirked. "When I saw him sittin' outside I asked if this was when he was gonna warn me not to hurt you. He said he didn't think he needed to 'cause he figured I already knew he'd kill me if I hurt ya."

"Sounds about right," she said, laughing. "What did you say?"

_What did he say?_ It _really_ wasn't that big a deal but every time he admitted something that showed how much he cared about Anna, his chest tightened and he began to feel nervous, just like when he had admitted to caring about her not twenty minutes ago. Not nervous of what he was feeling, surprisingly enough, nervous of her reaction.

"I told him I had no intention of hurtin' ya so he didn't have to worry."

Anna nodded slowly. "That's a good answer."

"Honest, too," he said.

Pushing herself up slightly she kissed him, moving her hand from in front of her to run it slowly down his chest. The arm around her back tightening and the other hand holding the back of her head, he pulled her closer, loving the fact that her previous night's confidence hadn't left her and that she was finally there. She was finally his.

* * *

**A/N 2:** I know you've all been waiting for this - I hope I didn't disappoint :) Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading, and la belle nuit who helped me with a little problem I had.

**A/N 3:** Please keep an eye out for a side-fic I'm going to be posting within the next few days. It'll be called 'One Way or Another'.


	34. You Really Got Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders or 'You Really Got Me' by The Kinks.

**A/N 1:** If you haven't read my little side-fic 'One Way or Another' yet, I suggest you do so before reading this chapter. Just so you don't feel like you've missed out :) It can be found on my profile.

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Thursday, May 19th, 1966**

Steve hid a smirk as he leaned against the counter at the DX and watched Soda flirt with Sandy. His best buddy hadn't been able to shut up about his new girl since the moment he had met her and, looking at the two of them together, Steve had a feeling Sandy was just as crazy about Soda as he was her.

"Ain't love grand?" Two-Bit said from next to him.

"I ain't seen him this happy in a long while."

Two-Bit laughed. "Steve, buddy, I ain't seen _you_ this happy in a long while."

Steve smirked, not quite wanting to agree but unable to deny it.

"Who woulda thought it?" Two-Bit continued. "You and Anna, a couple, after all these years of fighting, cussing each other out and outright hatin' each other." He shook his head, a glint in his eyes. "All that heated chemistry the two of you had can be used in a positive way nowadays."

Steve smirked again and said nothing. He knew Two-Bit was fishing for information on how Anna was in bed without outright asking but he wasn't about to say anything. He had nothing against bull sessions with the guys and had regularly participated in them when he was with Evie, but with Anna, it was different.

He had told the guys something, partly to shut them up about it and partly because he'd had one hell of a time keeping his mouth shut about the way she had convinced him to be with her. The image of her standing in his bedroom and undoing her blouse, cool as a cucumber except for the look in her eyes, was etched into his brain and he didn't mind one bit. In fact, he loved it so much he'd had to share it.

Other than that, he kept most of what they did to himself. He told Sodapop bits and pieces but there wasn't much he didn't tell Soda.

"That's right," Two-Bit continued with a grin. "All that anger, tension, _frustration_ … no point in using it to argue anymore."

Steve ignored him and went to grab a Coke. He was used to Two-Bit's attempts to find out all he could - though he had a feeling part of the reason Two-Bit wanted to know was so he had something to hold over Anna - but that didn't mean he had the patience for them.

"Or maybe," Two-Bit carried on, "you still use all the _passion_ in an angry way … perhaps Anna likes it a little rough. Y'know, she always did strike me as a bit of a wildcat."

"Shut it, Two-Bit," Steve said with a glare that Two-Bit laughed off. He didn't mind the odd dig, but he felt a strange need to keep things with Anna private and Two-Bit continuing to goad him was pissing him off.

Two-Bit, however, continued grinning at him and Steve couldn't help but eventually roll his eyes and smirk again; partly because it was hard enough staying angry with Two-Bit at the best of times, and partly because he was right - Anna was pretty damn eager when they were alone.

The grin on Soda's face as he came inside was pretty damn close to how Steve was feeling these days, but he couldn't help but join in when Two-Bit began teasing him about it.

"Shut up," Soda said, still grinning from ear to ear. "She's a sweet girl and I really like her. I sure ain't about to let you two hassle me into feeling stupid about it."

Two-Bit laughed. "Aw, buddy. You don't gotta feel stupid about nothin'. Me and Steve here are in the exact same boat."

Steve was ready to deny that one. Sure, it was obvious he liked Anna - she was his girlfriend after all - but he had been trying his best to not act like a complete idiot when it came to her. Walking around with a grin on his face that showed everyone just how taken he was with Anna just wasn't his style. He had made a point of not doing it.

He stopped himself from saying anything, though, as he realised he didn't really care if Sodapop and Two-Bit knew. Soda was his best buddy, had been since they were kids, and Two-Bit was probably who he was closest to in the gang after Soda. The fact that Two-Bit had been right, that all three of them were in the same boat, certainly made him feel better about things.

He figured if there was anyone he didn't mind knowing just how much he liked Anna, it was those two. They hadn't been together long but that hardly mattered; not when it had been weeks and weeks before getting together when they had grown close and developed their feelings for each other.

Anna had quickly become the kind of girl he wanted to not ever be without. She was funny, smart when she put her mind to it, kind and cute. Hell, cute didn't even compare when it came to Anna. He didn't know how he'd missed it all these years, but she had quickly proven to him just how gorgeous she was.

"I gotta get goin'," he said, deciding he'd rather be around Anna than his buddies while thinking the thoughts he was thinking.

"Going to pick up Anna?" Soda asked and Steve nodded, ignoring Two-Bit's smirk.

"We've got our math final in a week and she needs to be studyin' extra hard."

Two-Bit gave him another grin. "Good luck at sticking to the studying part of things."

Steve shook his head, fighting a grin. "See you guys later."

XXXXX

Steve leaned into Anna, pressing her against the counter behind her and slipping his fingers under her shirt as he kissed her. She kissed him back eagerly enough, but he could tell she wasn't too into it.

"What's goin' on ?" he asked, pulling back.

"My dad'll be home soon."

He shrugged and gave her a wolfish grin. "Let's go to your room then."

Lowering his head to kiss her again, he let his fingers massage the small of her back and wondered if he had won her over. He was disappointed when she pushed him away.

"You have to stop," she said.

"I don't wanna." He began kissing along her neck, hoping to change her mind.

She laughed. "You sound like a sulky five year old."

"Sulky five year olds ain't hangin' out to fool around with their girls."

"Steve," she half scolded, blushing from his words. She seemed to have no problem speaking her mind to him any other time, and was always confident with _what_ they were doing when it came to anything physical, but when Steve said anything aloud, Anna blushed like she couldn't believe what he was saying and he loved it.

He kissed her again, slipping his tongue into her mouth and loving that she tasted like the chocolate cake batter she was always baking almost every time he kissed her. He had managed to undo the top button of her blouse without any complaint when they both heard the front door open and slam closed.

Steve watched in amusement as Anna whirled around, her back to the kitchen doorway, and re-buttoned her shirt, pretending that she had been baking the whole time and not making out with her boyfriend.

He shifted his eyes to the doorway as her dad came into view and he couldn't help the anger that he felt. All he saw when he looked at her dad was the way he had been holding onto Anna's arm the day he had walked in on them arguing and the angry red gash that had marred Anna's skin for a few weeks.

"Hi, Dad." Anna's voice came from next to him and he looked to see her facing her dad with a strange look on her face.

Stan Harris didn't reply, simply looked from Anna to Steve and back again, so Anna continued.

"This is Steve," she said, voice strong. "My boyfriend."

Stan looked at him and Steve couldn't help the glare that entered his eyes. He knew it was probably stupid, glaring at his girlfriend's dad when he was pretty damn big, but he couldn't help the hatred he felt for the man. Stan just gave him a look as if he knew Steve from somewhere but wasn't sure where before looking back at Anna.

"Whaddya making?"

Steve could practically feel Anna's relief from next to him as she answered. "Chocolate muffins and apple crumble."

Stan chuckled. He actually _chuckled_. Admittedly it sounded forced, but that was hardly the point. "No wonder my pants feel tighter every time I put them on," he said. "What with all this desert you make for your brother and me."

Anna just shrugged and smiled, and the silence between the three of them was awkward to say the least.

"Right," Stan finally said. "I'm gonna hit the shower."

He turned and left and Steve felt his own relief flowing over him at how not bad that had gone.

"So," Anna said, turning to face him. "That's my dad."

"Seems a lot calmer than the last time I saw him."

"Yeah; Danny and Tim 'talked' to him after Grandpa Joe died," she said. "I doubt that Dad was actually scared of them, like they seem to think, but that he's just had a bit of change of heart at some stage."

Steve was surprised but glad. "You've said he ain't been bothering ya since around the night he hit you … I didn't realise just how much he ain't been bothering ya."

Anna nodded and went back to the oven. "I think hitting me might have been a bit of a wakeup call or something. He still yells sometimes, but mostly just to himself, not so much at me anymore."

"He didn't seem to remember me."

"He was pretty drunk that time you saw him," Anna reminded. "Though I have to admit, I was a little worried that he would remember you and start something."

Steve sat at the counter and began picking at one of the muffins Anna already had cooling. His own dad hadn't let up any and it still pissed him off to no end, but he was more relieved than he had ever thought he would be to know that Anna's dad really had laid off. Hopefully it meant no more running to his place late at night because of something her dad had done. He didn't mind her coming to his place late at night of course; he just would have preferred _he_ be thereason for it.

"Hey," she said as she turned back from placing one lot of muffins in the oven and taking another out, "you never did tell me how Johnny was doing."

More anger overtook the brief relief he had been feeling. He was still furious at what had happened to Johnny. He was doing okay now, but when they'd found him at the lot, he'd been beaten real bad. Despite their best attempts, none of the guys had managed to find out who hurt him so bad. All they knew was it was a group of Soc's, one of whom wore a lot of rings, and that they drove a blue Mustang.

"He's doin' all right,' he said. "Reckons he's gonna go back to school tomorrow but we've all had somethin' to say about that."

"He must be gettin' pretty sick of spending his days on the couch," she said, placing the cooling muffins into a container.

"Yeah, Dal's been spending days with him though, playing poker … probably amusing Johnny with stories of all the fights he's been in."

Steve was glad for that fact; had it been any of the other guys to spend their days with him while he was laid up, Johnny would have hated it and worried it was pity. With Dally, he knew there was no pity.

Anna smirked and clicked the lid into place on the container. "Probably," she said and handed the container to him. "Here, give these to Johnny, okay?"

"You made these for Johnny?"

"Yeah, I would've made them sooner, but chocolate muffins hardly seem like a good food to eat after bein' hurt as bad as he was. Soup seemed more appropriate but I'm a baker not a cook." She paused and gave him a look. "I sure hope he likes chocolate as much as the rest of you seem to."

Steve grinned, loving that she had thought to make muffins for Johnny. Couple of months ago and _he_ probably would have seen it as pity, simply because he hadn't liked her, now he knew she was just kind of sweet like that. She wanted to help and this was the only way she could think to do so.

"Yeah, he does," he said and leaned over the counter to kiss her again.

XXXXX

After hours of Steve relentlessly going over everything he had tried to teach her these last few months, Anna was finally home and ready for bed. She had one hell of a headache and never wanted to see another goddamn fraction sign again.

Dropping her books on the dinner table she went to the fridge for a quick glass of milk and thought back to when they had seen Johnny. At first Steve had said he'd drop the muffins off to Johnny later that night, which Anna had assumed would be the plan anyway, but on the way to his place he had decided that they should stop in and see Johnny right then.

She was getting much better at reading Steve these days and knew he had given a lot of thought to her seeing Johnny and whether or not Johnny would want her seeing him bruised the way he was. Obviously he had decided it would be all right and led her into the Curtis' where Ponyboy, Dally and Johnny were all sitting inside playing poker.

Johnny had blushed at first when she had handed him the muffins before Dally had made some comment about them not even being iced and Johnny had joked that he was sure another batch would have him on the mend completely.

It wasn't until she got home that she had let herself really think about how badly Johnny must have really been beaten. It was close to a week later, but he looked as though he had only been jumped the day before and Anna felt her stomach roll at the idea that something like that could happen to Danny or Steve or even Tim.

Sitting at the kitchen table, she let out a heavy sigh.

Being with Steve was great and he really did make her happy. Everything that had made her fall for Steve in the first place had become even more obvious to her over the last few weeks and she almost couldn't help the happy sigh that wanted to fall from her lips whenever she thought of them.

They hadn't done a whole lot of dating, but as far as Anna was concerned, that was a good thing. She didn't want to go out and sit with a bunch of other people while with her boyfriend. She wanted to hang out with Soda and Sandy, Two-Bit and Kathy. She wanted to lie around and talk. She just wanted to be with _him_.

During the time he was with Evie, she had very few times allowed herself little fantasies where he had been with her instead. She had never expected those fantasies to become a reality and now that they had, the reality was so much better than she had ever imagined.

The only problem with it all was that in her fantasies, Evie had never been hurt. Anna had never been stupid enough to think that any part of those little daydreams of her and Steve being together could ever come true, but they had. She supposed hoping Evie would have been okay with everything was too much to expect.

Thinking back to what had happened with Evie, she frowned. She and Evie had been best friends growing up and now they weren't even talking and it was all Anna's fault. She wouldn't deny that; everything that had happened was because she had fallen for Steve. She might not have purposefully acted on anything with him while he had been with Evie - other than their kiss at Buck's - but she was sure that Steve hadn't ever thought about her as more than a friend until the idea of _her_ liking _him_ had entered his mind.

Had that not happened, there was a good chance he would still be with Evie and they would be happy. But, despite the amount of guilt she felt over Evie, the idea of Steve being with her cousin made her feel a little sick.

She still couldn't help the insecurity she still felt at the idea that Steve would wake up one day and realise what a mistake he'd made, and that he had chosen the wrong cousin after all. The idea of losing him was something she hated - the idea of losing him to Evie … she couldn't bear it.

The one thing that ate away at her even more than her guilt and insecurity was her sadness that she and Evie had fallen out. She had no one to blame but herself for the fallout, she even agreed that she had deserved that slap - despite how angry Steve had been. She hated that they weren't talking; they were family, after all, and Anna had lost all the family she could take.

As that thought entered her mind, Anna had to bite her lip hard to keep tears away. Losing Evie was a million times easier than dealing with Grandpa Joe dying. Hardly surprising, really, but Anna had truly thought that it would have started getting easier to deal with by now. She had assumed that, at three weeks after his death, she would be able to think about him without her chest hurting and a lump forming in the back of her throat.

It wasn't getting any easier though. Steve was making her happier than she had ever thought a boy possibly could, but compared to how much she was still hurting over her grandpa's death, it almost paled in comparison.

She supposed it had to start getting easier eventually. Steve seemed to do okay and he'd lost his mother. Kathy seemed to do okay and she'd lost her father. Eventually it had to get better.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please review :)


	35. So In Her I Do Confide

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or lyrics to 'Wherever I May Roam' by Metallica that have been used in the chapter title.

**

* * *

Sunday, May 29th, 1966**

Steve looked at the cards in his hands before doing a mental tally of how much money he still had in his pockets. He sighed and threw his cards down.

"I'm out."

"No!" Two-Bit cried. "Steve, c'mon, someone's gotta beat the kid."

Steve shrugged. "It ain't gonna be me."

"Or me," said Dally, throwing his cards next to Steve.

Two-Bit, who had put all his money into the pot in the last game, sighed. "What about you, Darry? Johnnycakes? You got anything?"

Johnny shook his head. "Nothing."

"Me either," Darry said.

Steve saw Pony's grin widen and couldn't quite find it in himself to be pissed at the kid; it wasn't often he beat Johnny at poker.

"Not so fast, little brother," Soda said, grinning even wider than Pony. "I'm all in, show me what ya got."

Pony's brow furrowed as he looked at his cards before neatly placing them face-up on the table. Full house. Steve looked at Soda to see his large grin replaced by a small smile as he shook his head, and threw his cards down.

"Damn, Pony, your poker face is getting better each time we play."

Pony grinned again and raked up the few dollars he'd made. "Y'all wanna play again?"

"Not me," Two-Bit said, jumping from the counter he'd been sitting on. "You cleaned me out, kid. Plus, I think I'll head home before this rain gets worse. Anyone need a ride?"

Steve nodded and stood; Two-Bit was his ride home. He'd walked to work for an extra shift earlier that day before the rain started and Two-Bit had picked him up when he'd finished over an hour ago when it had been obvious the rain hadn't been planning on letting up. His ride home now would only take a minute, but he'd get soaked if he walked.

The two made their way outside - Dally and Johnny having decided to crash the night - and quickly headed for Two-Bit's car.

"You really oughta let me work on this engine," Steve said, as a rattling noise sounded when Two-Bit started up.

"I dunno," Two-Bit said. "I can't let just anyone work on my baby."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Ain't no one better to work on it and you know it."

Two-Bit grinned and changed the subject. "How's things goin' with Anna?"

Steve smirked. Seemed like a pointless question that Two-Bit liked to ask every day even though the answer was always the same: perfect. Well, that wasn't the answer he ever gave Two-Bit; it was kind of a pathetic answer if you weren't a girl.

"Things with Anna are good," he said, just like he did every other time.

"Glory," Two-Bit said, pulling into Steve's street. "I still can't believe she fell for a greaser like you, not after the way you two used to behave."

"You ain't kiddin'," Steve said. "She sure used to hate me."

And he'd never admit it to anyone but Soda, but he thanked whatever there was to thank everyday that she _had_ fallen for him.

Two-Bit pulled up outside Steve's. "See ya later, buddy."

Steve said his goodbyes, climbed out of the car, and hurried inside. Not bothering to take off his shoes, he headed straight for his bedroom, half wishing he'd made plans to have Anna stay over.

Seeing the tall blonde in his kitchen, cooking their food and wearing his dad's dressing gown was not something Steve had expected to see upon arriving home, and it caused him to stop, mid-step.

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, he frowned at the woman who had yet to notice him and wondered who the hell she was. It was obvious why she was there and what she had been doing there, but who she was and where she had come from was a mystery.

He swallowed back the anger he felt. It would do no good to yell at her and he wasn't even sure she deserved it. He didn't know her, but she wasn't the one defiling his mom's memory by sleeping around.

Just as he was about ready to turn and go back to Soda's, the woman turned and almost dropped the two coffee mugs she was carrying.

"Oh!" she said in surprise. "Hi."

He stared at her, not saying anything.

"I'm Millie."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "_Millie_?"

She gave a grin. "Yeah, short for Mildred, but really, who wants to go by Mildred?"

He said nothing, but turned as he heard a door open down the hall. His father came into view, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and Steve felt an unbelievable urge to hit him. That wasn't exactly new, but the hatred for the man began running deeper than ever.

His dad came to stand opposite him, but spoke to the woman in the kitchen.

"Millie, why don't you head back to bed? I'll be there in a minute."

"Sure," came the reply from the kitchen.

Steve tensed as the woman walked past him, wrinkling his nose in disgust as her cheap perfume wafted around her. She made him sick. He didn't have a clue who she was, but he hated her.

"What are you doing home?" John asked as soon as the bedroom door closed.

"Who the fuck is she?" Steve asked, not bothering with the composure he normally tried to keep around his dad when they argued.

His dad glowered. "A woman I work with, and you'll have the goddamn decency to be polite to her."

Steve turned and began heading toward the front door. "Fuck off," he said loud enough for his dad to hear. "You think I'm going to be nice to the first broad you bring home since Mom died, just because you say so?"

"Get back here," John said, not even sounding like he meant it.

Steve knew he didn't mean it. His dad wanted him out of the house almost as much as Steve wanted to be gone. He hated the idea of leaving and giving his dad the satisfaction of having the house to himself, but there was no way in hell he was sticking around.

"Fuck off," he said again, before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him.

XXXXX

Anna sat at the kitchen table and decided that, despite being wet from having just run into the rain to grab her favourite sweater out of Danny's car, despite the spiel Danny was on about some job that had gone wrong, and despite her dad being home, sitting in the living room with a six-pack, she was pretty damn happy.

She still wasn't coping all that well without Grandpa Joe, but this week, everything else had almost made up for that.

School had finished last week, which meant she didn't have to worry about math, or tests or any other stupid school problem. She had passed math with flying colours. Mr. Chase hadn't exactly used those words, but it had definitely been implied.

And, she had a part-time job. The most amazing job, in fact, that Miss Western had offered her at the end of term. Working two afternoons a week and Saturday mornings in a bakery was almost her dream job. The only way it could get better was with less cleaning and more baking, but she wasn't complaining. She had money in her pocket and did something she loved to get it.

When not at work, most of her time was spent with Kathy - lounging on the porch doing nothing - or with Steve when he wasn't working. Their nights were either spent in his bedroom or hanging out down at the empty lot with Two-Bit and Kathy, or Soda and Sandy.

She bit back a smile as Danny handed her a can of Coke and continued rambling. Steve was the best part of the best week of her life. Actually, he was basically the best part of her life - not counting Danny when was he was being bearable - and she no longer cared how incredibly foolish she had sounded when she'd told Kathy. Steve was - as much as she never thought she would say - practically perfect.

Of course, that was only a figure of speech and he wasn't perfect at all, but he was damn near close. In reality, he was a moody bastard who had a temper like a rabid dog. When things didn't go his way, his temper would come out quicker than lightening and whoever was on the receiving end was best to leave.

She had always known this. Hell, she had been on the receiving end of his temper probably more than most people during the last ten years. But now … well, now Steve always made a point of _not_ taking his anger out on her.

Didn't stop him from taking out his anger around her, though, and she fought a blush as she remembered him yelling at Two-Bit earlier that day. It had been their own fault, really. Making out and getting half undressed in the kitchen while his dad was at work hadn't been the best idea.

When Two-Bit had turned up and interrupted them, Steve had been furious. Anna wasn't sure if he'd been angry over Two-Bit's stupid comments about what they were almost doing on the same kitchen table Steve had spent months tutoring her at, about Two-Bit seeing her in only a skirt and bra, or - most likely - Two-Bit interrupting them.

She knew now, and had known then, that making out in the kitchen wasn't a great idea, but she simply couldn't help herself with Steve. He was not only incredibly sexy, but he could talk her into all sorts of things with just a few words in her ear and a few strokes of her skin.

"Why are you blushing?"

Anna looked up at Danny and knew her skin was burning up even more. "I'm not."

He laughed. "You're redder than I've ever seen ya."

"It's summer," she said, doing her best to sound casual. "People get red in summer."

"Uh-huh, especially when it's raining the way it is."

Taking a long drink of her Coke in hopes it would cool her skin down, she ignored Danny and looked out the window into the dark night. It had started raining a few hours ago and the gutters were already gushing with water. She was no good at predicting the weather, but she was pretty sure the rain was there for the night, at least.

"You got work tomorrow?" Danny asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Nope, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays," she said, then added with a grin, "Same days Steve works … handy, huh?"

Danny glared at her. He wasn't exactly taking the 'protective big brother' thing too far, but he made it obvious he hated Anna spending her time with Steve, which just made Anna do her best to tease him about it.

"Ain't it past your bed time?" he snapped.

She glanced at the clock and raised an eyebrow. "Ten o'clock? Hardly."

He smirked. "You've been home all night," he commented. "I guess you won't be seein' Randle tonight."

"Believe it or not, me and Steve don't have to see each other every night," she said, even though she was wishing she could see Steve that night. "Though, I do believe Mary-Louise has been spending an awful lot of time here."

Danny had been dating Mary-Louise Hemsworth, a senior at Will Rogers, for a few weeks now. She seemed nice enough, but all Anna really knew about her was that she'd taken pretty quickly to her brother, and that she'd been caught by Kathy flirting with Two-Bit once.

"You ain't lyin'," Danny grumbled as a knock came at the front door.

"Maybe that's her now," Anna suggested.

Danny flipped her off in reply and she grinned as Tim walked into the kitchen, hair and t-shirt wet from the rain.

"It's fucking wet out there," he muttered, sitting at the table and pushing his hair back.

Anna took that as her cue to leave, knowing they would want to talk business and feeling about ready to shower and go to bed. Finishing her Coke, she stood and left the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later she was showered, changed into her nightie, and contemplating an old _Seventeen_ magazine to read when a tapping came on her bedroom window. It scared the crap out of her and it was with a slight frown and tiptoeing caution that she peeked out of the curtain to find out who was there. A sigh, half relieved, half exasperated made it's way out when she saw Steve standing on the lawn, soaked from the rain, hands shoved in his jeans pockets as he looked up at her.

She lifted the window open. "What the hell are you doin' here? It's pouring down."

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Her eyes widened for a second before she stepped back. "My dad and Danny are both home so you have to be real quiet," she said.

"Quit worryin'," he said, pulling himself through the window.

She bit her lip and frowned at how much noise he made when he landed and quickly went to shove the chair under the door handle, hoping it would keep both her dad and Danny out.

"You're drenched," she said turning back to him.

"It's raining," he replied and she rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again as she made her way back to him, grabbing the towel she had used not twenty minutes ago.

"Had a fight with my dad," he said, eyes roaming over her body as he pushed his wet curls out of his eyes and she handed him the towel. "Figured I'd come to you instead of goin' to Soda's." He paused, towel half way to his head and looked back up at her, eyes dark. "That all right?"

Anna nodded, fighting the urge to jump with happiness. If he had come to her instead of Soda after a fight with his dad, then absolutely everything and anything was all right … other than him fighting with his dad, obviously.

She watched as he rubbed his hair for a minute before peeling off his wet t-shirt. He looked so good with his hair wet. She wasn't opposed to the hair grease he wore - or even the _amount_ of hair grease he wore - but she truly loved his hair when it was wet and hanging over his face.

Fighting an appreciative sigh, she watched his hard muscles move as he lifted the shirt over his head and fought a blush when he caught her looking.

"That what you wear to bed?" he asked, eyeing her nightie again.

"Only in the summer," she muttered, looking down and realising how revealing her light pink baby doll nightie was.

He smirked and slid his hands along her hips. "Thank God it's summer then."

She raised an eyebrow as his hands fisted in the material of her nightie, pulling her to him, and she shivered a little from his cold wet skin. His mouth automatically descended onto hers, kissing her lazily. It always amazed her how quickly he could send chills through her body and cause her to give him exactly what he wanted.

Wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers through his hair, she pressed herself against him, knowing she didn't exactly act like a girl her age was supposed to, but just not caring. Steve Randle brought out the naughty in her. Pulling her closer, his hands slipped from her hips and beneath her nightie, pulling her up against him. She shivered again, feeling him through his jeans.

He pulled his mouth away from hers for a minute and looked at her. His eyes were dark and she bit her lip, trying to read them.

"I like this even better when it's wet," he said, eyes lowering to where her nightie had become see through from being pressed against his wet skin.

She blushed and her whole body felt warm as he slid his hands up her bare back and lifted her nightie.

XXXXX

Steve felt as though what had happened at home with his dad and _Millie_ had never happened. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing better to cheer him up than a good lay with his girl. Though - even as he thought it - he knew it wasn't just that.

Lying in Anna's bed with her naked body wrapped in his arms, he felt relaxed and happy. Just being with Anna had quickly become enough to put him back in a good mood. He was still pissed as hell with his dad, but it wasn't on his mind while he was with his girlfriend.

Or maybe it was.

He tensed as the thoughts came to him and frowned.

"What's up?" Anna asked sleepily from where she lay on his chest.

"Nothin," he muttered, running a hand up her back. "Go to sleep."

"I ain't tired."

He smirked. "Liar."

She shifted, sliding her leg over his. "Was your fight with your dad real bad?"

Steve frowned down at her, wondering if she really did know him that well already. He'd made a point over the last few years of not letting people know what he was thinking or feeling, especially people like Anna who he had thought would have used it against him.

He sighed. "He had someone there with him when I got home from Soda's."

"Who was it?"

"I dunno. Some woman." Anna didn't say anything and he found himself continuing. "I mean, I know it's been six years since my mom died, but it still seems wrong."

Anna trailed her fingers over his collarbone. "It'll probably always feel wrong."

"Probably. But this woman, she wasn't even pretty. I mean, she wasn't ugly, but there was something about her that screamed cheap."

"Right. As opposed to you and me and all the money we have."

Steve shrugged, knowing Anna wasn't being a smart-ass, just making a point. "I just mean compared to my mom. She was … well, she was sweet, you know? She was nice, and fresh and smelled good."

"She smelled good?"

"Yeah, like, um, that long purple flower outside Kathy's. You know the one?"

Anna nodded. "Lavender."

"Yeah, lavender.

"And this woman at your place didn't smell good?" Anna asked, fingers still dancing over his skin.

"She smelt like perfume. Not like that nice stuff you wear," he said, remembering the summery fragrance that used to destroy him with need before they got together. "More … intense, and gross."

"Doesn't sound very nice," Anna agreed. "So, that's what you fought with your dad about?"

"Yeah. I guess … I dunno, I s'pose the woman - _Millie_ - was okay. She seemed nice enough, but …"

Steve knew he wasn't making any sense. He knew what he wanted to say, what he was trying to say, but the words wouldn't come out right. He was only a little surprised when Anna said it for him.

"But she's not your mom?"

"She's not my mom," he agreed, entwining their fingers.

"Which makes it feel wrong," she continued. "Because - even though it's been six years, like you said - it still feels like your dad's betraying your mom's memory."

Steve brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. "You're pretty good at this analysing bullshit."

She pressed herself into him, and said nothing. He had a feeling she was smiling, and was pretty sure it was because he had shared something important with her. Shared his _feelings_ with her. What surprised him most wasn't that she was glad that he had opened up, but that he didn't mind so much that he had opened up.

In fact, he felt better for it.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading, and la belle nuit for her thoughts. Please review :)


	36. I'm Yours

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz.

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Saturday, June 4th, 1966**

"What's your problem?" Danny asked, coming into the kitchen. "You and Randle have a fight?"

Anna ignored the hopeful tone of his voice and small smirk on his face. "No," she snapped, before sticking her chocolate icing covered spoon back into her mouth and resuming her glare at the table.

"Really? 'Cause here I thought the icing was s'posed to go from the bowl to the cake," he said, indicating the items in front of her. "Not from the bowl to your mouth."

Anna directed her glare at her brother. "Is there a reason you're hasslin' me?" she snapped. "'Cause if there's not you can shut your trap."

"Watch it, kid," he said, returning her glare.

She turned away and started digging through the icing again. It wasn't often Danny went all Tim Shepard on her and told her off, but she knew she probably deserved it this time. Other than his stupid comment about Steve, Danny had hardly deserved her attitude.

"You gonna tell me what your problem is or not?" he asked, standing on the other side of the table.

She shook her head. "No."

The front door being opened and Kathy's voice stopped any reply from Danny and, out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw her brother tense. Lifting her eyes, she watched in fascination as Kathy entered the kitchen, stopping at the sight of Danny before forcing a smile to her face.

"Hey, guys," she said, walking in to the kitchen.

Danny ignored her. "I gotta get goin'," he said, digging his keys out of his pocket and leaving.

The silence he left behind in the kitchen brought a grin about Anna's face.

"What was that about?" she asked.

Kathy shrugged, looking miserable. "I don't know. I think he hates me," she said, walking to the counter to grab a spoon for herself.

Anna was silent for a few minutes, thinking over what had happened with Kathy and Danny. She knew Danny hadn't wanted to break up with Kathy and had only done so because of Ruth, but she also knew that Danny had always known Kathy and Two-Bit would get back together.

"He doesn't hate you," she finally said. "If anything he might still like you … maybe a little too much."

Kathy nodded. "We haven't spoken in ages - not since the weekend you and Steve got together and I called here looking for you. I see him when me and Two-Bit are out and, even though we agreed to be friends when we stopped dating, he ignores me completely."

Not really knowing what to say, Anna just nodded as they ate the icing. Her brother's love life had never been a favourite subject of hers - and she knew the feeling was mutual for him regarding her love life - and she wasn't really sure what to tell Kathy. She was pretty sure Danny had liked Kathy a whole heap more than he had let on and wondered if Kathy might have felt the same, but there was no way to know anymore.

Although, now that Kathy was happy with Two-Bit and Danny seemed happy enough with Mary-Louise, she wondered if the problem was just the natural awkwardness that came with being around an ex. She told Kathy this.

"Could be," Kathy agreed, looking thoughtful. "I just hope things can get back to normal. We used to at least _talk_ before we ever dated."

"Well, maybe things will get back to normal now that he's dating Mary-Louise."

Kathy nodded. "Anyway, I was sent here for a reason," she began changing the subject. "It would seem as though someone is sure you're angry at him."

Anna cringed. "Steve sent you?"

"No, Sodapop sent me," she said, continuing at Anna's raised eyebrow. "I stopped in for a Coke and apparently Steve's been in a nightmare of a mood all day and Soda seems to think you might have somethin' to do with that."

Anna almost scoffed, even though she could almost understand. "I haven't done anything."

"You guys aren't fighting?"

"For the first time ever, I can honestly say that no, me and Steve are not fighting." She paused. "But he might think I'm pissed at him."

"Because?"

Sighing, Anna went back to the bowl of icing. "Because of Evie."

Yesterday, for the first time since their telling Evie and she and Steve, Evie had spoken to Anna. It had been in the Dingo while Anna had been waiting for Steve to turn up. Evie had sat next to Anna and started small talk as though nothing had happened between them and Anna, who had been silently thinking about her grandpa, had been too happy about the distraction and Evie talking to her to give it too much thought.

But then Steve had walked in. The two cousins, seated at a far table facing the front doors, had seen him walk in though he had seen neither of them. Even with the butterflies she still got whenever she saw her boyfriend, Anna had felt awkward about the whole situation and glanced at Evie, hoping her cousin didn't let the appearance of her ex-boyfriend - Anna's current boyfriend - come between their chat.

But, Evie's mind obviously hadn't been on Anna or any kind of awkwardness that could come about. Her eyes were focused solely on Steve and the look in them - one that Anna could only call _desire_ - had set Anna's nerves on edge and put her in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

And with Steve being who she spent the next few hours with, her bad mood had been taken out on him.

"We didn't fight," she told Kathy, once she had filled her in about Evie. "But I don't think he believed me when I said he hadn't done anythin' to piss me off. I suppose the fact that I snapped it at him could have somethin' to do with that."

Kathy dug at a particularly stubborn bit of hard icing. "You think Evie wants him back?"

"I could understand it if she did; she was pretty upset when Steve broke up with her and it would make sense if she wasn't over it yet."

"If you can understand it, then why is it such a problem?"

Anna smiled bitterly. "Because it's Evie; the same Evie who Steve has been smitten with since their first date."

"Until about a month ago when he realised it was you he really wanted," Kathy pointed out.

She knew this, she really did, but Anna couldn't help but feel uneasy when it came to Evie and Steve's relationship with her. He had wanted to be back with her so badly that the simple memory of him agreeing to tutor Anna for her help with Evie made her heart ache.

It didn't matter that she and Steve had only been together for a few while; she had fallen for him a long time ago and had wanted him for even longer. Any memory of him and Evie together almost made her feel like throwing up.

"I really don't think you've got anything to worry 'bout," Kathy said, looking at her intently.

Anna nodded. "Sure. You're probably right."

But in the back of her mind was the fact that, while she had been pining away for Steve, he had been with Evie doing God only knows what.

XXXXX

Steve was in a foul mood when he arrived at the Dingo to meet Anna. The fact that he didn't even know if she wanted to see him certainly didn't help things.

Work had been crap, having been stuck on the pumps all day, and while it hadn't been that busy it _had_ been damn hot. To make matters worse, his only customers had been stuck-up rich girls or rich old men and he'd had no company what with Soda stuck inside, working the store. The only good thing about it was that he had been able to finish early.

Home hadn't been much better. His dad had been there when he'd come out of the bathroom, ready to grill Steve about where his half full bottle of bourbon had disappeared to. Steve'd had to bite his tongue to keep from telling his dad that it was probably the same bottle he had chugged back the night before in front of the television, causing him to get too drunk to even remember drinking it. He hadn't known where _Millie_ was, but he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He was just glad he had managed to shower and change before his dad had started on him.

And Anna. He scowled as he turned off his car. He didn't know what the hell her problem had been, but it had kept him in a shitty mood since dropping her off at home the night before. She had been moody and everything she had said to him had been abrupt and snappy. The plan had been for him pick her up later tonight for their date - his pride had refused to let him give in and call her to find out if the date was even still on - but he'd finished work early and gone to see her only to find out she'd gone to the Dingo with Kathy.

Climbing out of the car and shoving his keys in his pocket, he made his way across the parking lot, stopping when he saw Two-Bit and Dally taking to Henry Phillips, Bobby Miller and Ricky Bolton. He talked to his buddies for a moment, and as he stood there, Steve realised it was only two months ago he had been hanging out to pick a fight with Miller after seeing him with Evie at the school football game; now he couldn't care less about the guy.

Seeing the door to the Dingo open, he turned to see Anna and Kathy step out and started their way. He didn't get two feet when Ricky started in on him

"Hey, Randle," Ricky called and Steve turned to face him. "I hear you and Anna are together now."

Steve narrowed his eyes at Anna's ex-boyfriend. "So?"

Ricky jumped off the car hood and shrugged. "Just wondering if she gives you as good as she gave me?" he asked, smirking.

"You shut your fucking mouth," Steve snapped and took a step forward.

Ricky's smirk grew. "Bet ya never say that to Anna … I know I sure didn't."

The words had hardly left his mouth when Steve jumped on him, grabbing him by the front of his t-shirt and tackling him to the ground, making sure to knock his head against the hard gravel below. Ricky didn't give in that easily though and avoided Steve's first punch, turning his head to the side and causing Steve to smash his clenched fist into the rough gravel.

It hurt like hell and Steve fought a wince as Ricky took the opportunity given. Rolling the two of them over a few times until he was on top, he threw a punch at Steve's mouth. Steve ignored the taste of blood as well as the pain, both in his hand and mouth, and sent his fist flying into Ricky's jaw.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, pushing himself up and rolling the two of them back over, again doing his best to slam Ricky's head into the ground.

He didn't know when the guys stepped out of the way, but knew they would all stay there; the fight was one-on-one after all, nothing unfair about that. Plus, with what the jerk beneath him had said about Anna, Steve knew Dally and Two-Bit would sit back and let him go at Ricky, only joining in if they needed too. That in mind, he slammed a punch into the side of Ricky's head.

With one hand fisted in Ricky's shirt, the other going for another punch, Steve swung hard at Ricky's jaw, causing blood to fly as Ricky's head rolled to the side.

"You keep your fucking trap shut about her, ya bastard," he hissed, this time aiming for Ricky's nose and hearing the satisfying crunch and Ricky's howl of pain.

Quickly pulling his arm back, he went for the nose again, knowing it would hurt more than anything now that it was broken. Ricky let out another moan of pain as Steve's fist was brought back down onto his broken bones, and Steve was ready to go again when two pairs of arms pulled him away.

"Okay, buddy." Two-Bit's voice was its usual cheerful self. "Any more and the guy's gonna be unconscious."

Steve spat out the blood that he been pooling in his mouth. "He deserves it," he muttered, glaring down at Ricky.

"Sure did," Two-Bit agreed. "But your girl's here and I can't tell if she's ready to burst in to tears or smother you with kisses."

Turning to look for Anna, Steve saw that a small crowd had gathered to watch his fight with Ricky. Ignoring everyone else, he finally found Anna standing next to Kathy and Henry Phillips and headed her way as she came forward.

"Are you all right?" she asked when she reached him.

Two-Bit was right, he realised when he looked at her; she did look like she was ready to burst in to tears. Her eyes were dry but they were kind of glowing in a way that had him worried she was going to start crying in front of everyone. He quickly decided that was stupid; not only was Anna not a crier, but she knew he could take care of himself and he knew she wasn't the kind of broad to try and lecture him about fighting.

"I'm fine," he said quietly, letting her take his injured hand when she carefully picked it up and leading her toward the side of the building, away from the crowd.

"Henry said he said something about me?" she asked, referring to Ricky.

Steve just nodded, not wanting to repeat what had been said even though they were alone now.

Anna gave half a laugh. "You didn't need to beat his head in just 'cause he badmouthed me."

"He shouldn't be sayin' shit about ya, Anna," he said, loudly. His confusion at Anna's mood the day before came back and he continued. "Ya know what? He shouldn't even _know_ that shit about ya."

She opened her mouth to say something before promptly shutting it again. Raising an eyebrow, she watched him for a moment and Steve began to dread what he knew was coming.

"Are you _jealous_?" she asked, sounding incredulous.

Steve glared at her. Pulling his hand back he crossed his arms over his chest. "No."

"You are."

"_No_, I'm not."

"You don't need to be."

He shrugged, but she obviously wasn't going to just let him get away with shrugging this off and pretending it meant nothing. Prying his hand away from his arm, she took it again and gently caressed his cuts.

"You _really_ don't need to be," she said, moving to stand closer to him.

"I'm not," he lied again, letting her lace her fingers with those of his uninjured. When he was met with silence and a raised eyebrow, he continued. "Fine, maybe I am … a little."

He was sure she was fighting a smile. "Really?" she asked.

"I hate the idea that anyone else has touched you." He gave her a small frown. "This shouldn't be making you so happy."

"I've never had someone be jealous over another boy before," she said.

Steve looked down at her and sighed. "Sure ya have," he muttered. "But at the time you just took what I had been trying to say the wrong way and thought I was sayin' you weren't good enough for Soda."

She didn't bother hiding her smile anymore. "That's right. I suppose that _was_ jealousy, wasn't it?"

"You're lovin' this ain't ya?"

"Who woulda thought you'd ever be jealous over some boy I used to date?" she said, standing closer again.

"Ya did more than just date him, Anna."

She frowned. "Whatever he said … it probably wasn't true."

Steve said nothing. He had known that. Ricky had spread plenty of rumours about he and Anna, only one of which was true.

"I mean, I did sleep with him, but -"

"I know."

"Yeah?"

Steve said nothing, just leaned down and kissed her. He deepened it straight away; having been sure she was angry at him for something since yesterday afternoon, he wanted to make up for lost time.

A few minutes later, his injured hand still being held by Anna and his free hand resting on her cheek, he pulled back. Resting his forehead on hers, he looked at her.

"What I was tryin' to say that day here still stands," he said huskily.

Her eyes darkened and she bit her lower lip before replying. "I know; I'm yours."

XXXXX

Anna sighed happily as she sat straddling Steve on his bed later that night. He was sitting against the wall behind his bed and they were both still fully dressed, but that wasn't stopping his hands or lips.

"You need to ice your hand," she said.

She was secretly pleased he'd let her look after it for as long as he had. She couldn't help but remember when Steve had punched a brick wall at the football game a few months back. He had snapped at her then when she had told him to ice it and now, with a similar injury, he had let her ice it for him and _almost_ take care of him.

But now he was ignoring her attempts and making a few of his own.

"You smell good," he whispered in her ear as the fingers of his good hand ran through her hair.

Anna wasn't the kind of girl who got off on watching boys fight, but she couldn't deny that seeing Steve that way had been pretty fantastic. He had looked so powerful, strong and, well, sexy. And he had been doing it for her. She had wanted to grab him and kiss him the second Henry had told her what was going on.

Steve nuzzled her neck and she shivered. "I ain't gonna let him or anyone else say shit about ya, Anna."

Anna smiled in response and leaned down to kiss along his jaw.

She had been waiting to be alone with him all night. From the second she had realised Steve had been jealous, she had been longing to be alone with him, without the interruptions from his friends or her brother.

She had always known Steve was a jealous guy - Evie had told her about it plenty in the past - but had never really thought about his jealousy coming into play in their relationship. She knew it wasn't all that healthy; she knew from her own experience of it when Steve had been with Evie, but it still made her feel good.

"I think," Steve began, turning his head to trail kisses up the arm draped over his shoulder, "that we shouldn't go on dates anymore. We should just stay in here forever."

Anna smiled again. "Sounds pretty nice."

The rest of their night had been perfect apart from all the people they had run into when they just wanted a night alone. Steve had ended up snapping at Two-Bit to leave them the hell alone and, if it weren't for the shit-eating grin Two-Bit had given them that told her he knew exactly what Steve's problem was, she would have felt bad for Two-Bit.

But, despite that, it had been as if yesterday afternoon had never happened. It wasn't as if yesterday had been a fight, but Anna hadn't exactly been looking forward to explaining what her mood had been about.

Steve's words and his own jealousy had reassured her as much as they could. His reminder that he had considered her his for over a month now had melted her heart and all thoughts of him leaving her for Evie had left for the time being.

"One day," Steve muttered as he concentrated on undoing the buttons of her blouse, "I will have you in here, all to myself, for a week."

Anna raised an eyebrow and shrugged the blouse off of her arms. "Only a week?"

He gave her a wolfish grin. "To start with."

Anna grinned back and sighed as he touched her skin, wondering just how much longer she could continue kidding herself that she wasn't completely in love with Steve Randle.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please point out anything that seems off. There was a lot cut out from the first draft of the last ten-ish chapters, and I'm not sure I caught everything that needed to be adjusted, lol.


	37. On Call

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'On Call' by Kings of Leon

* * *

**Thursday, June 9th, 1966**

Steve watched the blonde woman in his kitchen scramble the eggs she was cooking. Her blonde - possibly from the bottle - hair was piled messily on her head and she had a cigarette dangling from her already painted lips. Had he been worried before, Steve knew now there was no need to be. Even if she wanted to - which she had made a point of telling him she didn't - there was no way Millie could come close to replacing his mom.

She could, however, stick around for a while so long as she continued cooking the way she did. He had come to realise that maybe she wasn't so bad after all. She was easy going, cooked up a storm, and he supposed she was nice enough.

"Eat up, kid," she said, placing a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

Glancing from the plate to the long piece of ash hanging from her cigarette, Steve pushed the plate back and stood from the table. She did have a bad habit of cooking eggs and smoking at the same time, though.

"Thanks," he muttered, "but I might grab somethin' with Anna."

Millie's eyes lit up. "You gonna bring her back around here anytime soon?"

The shine Millie had taken to Anna still amazed Steve. Sure, Anna was likable so long as she wasn't doing everything she could to annoy you, but he'd never thought anyone would be able to click with her so quickly.

"Hopefully I can convince her to come around tonight," he said with a smirk.

Millie gave him a smirk of her own. "Glory, kid. I've seen the way that girl looks at you; you could convince her to rob the bank downtown with ya if you tried hard enough."

That was one thing Steve didn't need to be told. He'd seen for himself the kind of things he could talk Anna into doing. Of course, those things had nothing to do with robbing banks downtown and everything to do with getting her undressed whenever possible.

Pushing those thoughts away so he didn't embarrass himself in front of Millie while thinking about his girlfriend without clothes, Steve grabbed his keys from the table, smirk growing.

"Yeah, well …" was all he said.

"You two doin' anything fun today?" Millie asked, pouring herself a coffee.

Steve frowned. He wasn't sure what he and Anna were going to do today, but he knew it wasn't going to be fun. In fact, it would probably be down right depressing, but he knew it had to be done.

Danny had cornered him the night before while Anna was in the shower. Though Steve was sure Danny wasn't impressed with him dating his little sister, the hostility that had been going back and forth between them a while back was gone and they got along well enough.

But hearing Danny say he was worried about Anna and how he didn't think she was really coping with their grandpa's death had put Steve in one hell of a mood. He knew Danny was right, and he knew that having not realised it himself made him a real shitty boyfriend. Anna's grandpa had only been dead six weeks; there was no way she was coping as well as she made out to be.

He'd never pegged Anna to be good at keeping things to herself before. Usually all he had to do was look at her and everything she was thinking or feeling came out loud and clear. Then again, he had gone weeks sitting next to her in math every day and not figured out how she felt about him. He supposed she wasn't that bad at hiding her feelings after all.

He was going to get them out of her, though. That was his plan for the day. He didn't know how, but he knew she needed to at least open up about her grandpa. Hell, he had done it when his mom had died and it had helped, now Anna had to do it, too.

He shrugged and looked at Millie. "We're s'posed to meet up with Two-Bit and Kathy." At least that's what he'd told Anna.

Millie nodded and went back to her coffee. "Sounds good, kid. See ya later."

Steve threw her a wave and left, remembering Danny's words from the night before as he climbed into his car and started for Anna's place.

"Look, I ain't askin' you to get her to talk or nothing," Danny had said, "just … make sure she's all right. I'd do it myself, but …" he had trailed off then, giving Steve a long look. "I think if she's gonna open up at all, it'll be to you."

He sure hoped Danny was right about that. It wasn't just guilt he was feeling, but worry. The last thing Steve wanted was Anna hurting more than she needed to be. He remembered how upset she had been the night her grandpa died and he hated it. He wanted her to be happy.

He just wasn't sure how to go about making it happen.

Sighing, he pulled up next to Anna's, leaning over to push open the door for her as she ran to the car.

"Hey," she said, before giving him a quick kiss. "Ready to go?"

He nodded, feeling like crap. He'd been too caught up in being with her and not caring about anything else when he should have known she would still be grieving. He should have known she wouldn't be over what had happened already.

Pulling away from the curb, he heard Anna sigh.

"I think it's gonna rain," she said, looking at the sky through the window.

"I think you might be right," he said.

She turned to look at him. "How's it goin' at home? With Millie?"

"It's okay, I guess. I don't like it, but Millie's not so bad. She's more bearable than Dad, anyway."

Anna nodded. "She's nice."

"Yeah, well …" he trailed off, a plan formulating in his mind. "How d'you feel about ditching Kathy and Two-Bit today?"

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Y'know, just to hang out together."

"Just the two of us?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

She turned slightly in her seat and grinned at him. "You do realise it's not considered really hanging out if it takes place in your bedroom?"

Ignoring her, he reached across the seat, and took her hand. "I was thinkin' we could get breakfast at that truck stop and diner we stopped at that time."

Anna was silent for a few moments, thinking it over. Finally she said, "You really wanna skip out on Two-Bit and Kathy with me?"

Steve nodded and took in the smile she was sending him. He realised that even though it had technically been his idea, and even if he hadn't been worried about her, he probably would have skipped the country with her had she asked.

XXXXX

Anna wasn't sure what was going on. Why skip out on a great day with their friends? Sure, ten-pin bowling wasn't exactly her idea of a great time, but she was sure Two-Bit would make it interesting enough, and he was sure Steve had been keen for it. It made no sense to her.

In fact, it made so little sense that she was wondering just what Steve was up to. He had been giving her furtive looks every few minutes as though he really wanted to ask her something, or as though he was waiting for her to do something.

Sighing, Anna stabbed her fork into a fry as she and Steve sat in the same booth they had sat in months ago at the same diner. Changing her mind, she dropped the fork and looked at her boyfriend.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Steve looked up from his Coke. "Whaddya mean?"

"I mean, why are we here? And, why are you looking at me as though something's goin' on that I don't know about?"

He smirked. "With brains like that, I don't know why you were failin' math."

"Ha-ha," she said sarcastically. "Now tell me what's goin' on. If you really just wanted to spend time together, I doubt you would've spent the last ten minutes not speaking to me."

His smirk turned into a smile and her heart thudded at the sight of it. It didn't happen often, but when Steve really smiled at her, she felt like dancing.

"I think we need to sort some stuff out," he said.

"What kinda stuff?"

"I think you know."

She frowned, thinking over anything that could possibly be wrong between the two of them. She wasn't a mind reader and didn't know if Steve had issues with her that she wasn't aware of, but the only things she felt she needed sorting out was her jealousy of Evie that hadn't disappeared like she had hoped, and her secret love for Steve.

But surely it wasn't either of those. She frowned, playing ignorant.

"I don't know what you mean."

Steve frowned and took out his comb, running it through his hair. "I realised last night that it's been about six weeks since your grandpa died."

She fidgeted in her seat. "So?"

"So," he said, reaching across and grabbing one of her hands, "I've only heard you mention him twice in that whole time."

Realisation washed over her and she felt sick. "You brought me here to talk about him?"

"No, I brought ya here for a late breakfast. I just happen to know you ain't coping as well as you claim to be, and think you should be talkin' about him." He paused. "And your brother agrees."

"He does, does he?" she asked, pulling her hand back.

Steve nodded. "He pointed it out to me last night, and once he did, I realised he was right." He paused again, narrowing his eyes at her and leaning back. "Gotta say, the fact that you ain't dealin' too well and didn't tell me sure made me feel like the world's worst boyfriend."

"You're … is - is that supposed to make me feel guilty?" she asked, voice slightly higher than normal.

Steve shrugged, and she _knew_ he was guilting her into talking. Problem was, she also knew that he was dead right; she should talk about it … she just really didn't want to. Plus, it was hardly fair. Steve had his own problems to deal with, like his dad being a complete jerk. As far as Anna was concerned, he didn't need to deal with her shit, too.

If she were honest with herself, she also didn't want to open up that much. She had told him things in the past, but she hadn't had to really share her feelings about something this big … something that really hurt to think about, let alone talk about.

Glancing out the window next to them at the rain that was now coming down steadily, she felt a warmth come over her at how similar this was to the last time they had been there. It had been after spending that afternoon together that Steve had accepted their friendship. Their friendship might have been born the night they had been drinking in the empty lot, but the afternoon they had spent in the same diner they were in now had shown Anna she could rely on Steve.

He had proved that fact time and time again. He was there when she needed him; the night her dad hit her, the night Grandpa Joe had died, Grandpa Joe's funeral. She hated needing him - she hated needing anyone other than Danny who she had always relied on - but Steve had never complained or moaned about it.

In fact, he had told her to go to him if she needed to. He had come to find her at Buck's when he'd found out about Grandpa Joe, and he had come to the funeral without her even knowing. She knew she loved Steve and, even if she didn't know how he felt about her, she knew for certain she could rely on him.

She knew for certain that, if she was going to talk to anyone about Grandpa Joe, it was going to be Steve.

His hand slipped around her wrist, warm and reassuring.

"I ain't gonna push it," he said, "but I ain't gonna let it go, either."

She took a breath. "Will you come somewhere with me?"

He nodded once. "Anywhere."

Her heart thudded at the one word and she had to stop herself from throwing herself into his arms.

XXXXX

Steve pulled into the same car park he had used the day of the funeral, switched the car off, and waited.

He knew this was huge. Maybe not to some people, but he was dead certain Anna hadn't been back here since the day of the funeral she barely remembered.

He looked at her. "You don't have to do this."

"Hey, if I can follow you to your bedroom and start getting naked - knowing there was a chance you might turn me down - then I can do this."

Steve scoffed. "What chance of me turning ya down? I knew as soon as I saw you inside that I wouldn't turn you away again."

She was silent, and he reached for her hand.

"Seriously," he said. "We can come back and do this another time if ya want. I'll come back with you whenever you want."

She turned to look at him and he could see she was considering his offer.

"You don't have to rush this," he continued.

She frowned and still seemed to be thinking so he stayed silent. He wasn't going to push her into this, but he would go with her if she wanted him to.

"Do you visit your mom's grave?" she asked softly.

He had talked to Anna about his mom more than he'd talked to anyone else about her, but Steve's natural reaction to anything about his mom was to close up and tell whoever asked to fuck off.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me," she said at his silence.

"It's okay," he muttered, slouching in the seat. And it was.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He looked at her intently. "Nothin' should be off limits between us."

She nodded. "I agree."

"So, once I tell you about my mom, you gotta tell me something about your grandpa. It doesn't have to anything big, but you gotta talk a little."

He refused to make it a question. She knew it wasn't easy for him to talk about his mom and deep down she knew she needed to talk about her grandpa. If it meant him going first, then so be it.

But then her lower lip trembled and he almost took his condition back … almost.

"Okay," she said.

And looking into her green eyes, he knew it _was_ okay. He felt more for Anna than he had for anyone. He knew he could trust her; had known it for some time. And not just with what he told her, but with his _feelings_.

He looked at her patiently watching him and sighed. "I visit my mom's grave once a year," he said. "On Valentine's Day."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah, it was always her favourite holiday and, I dunno, it beats coming here on Christmas or Mother's Day when the place is crowded."

"Plus, if it was her favourite holiday then she'd probably like it more that you go then, right?" Anna asked.

Steve couldn't help the half smile that came from Anna's words. "Yeah, probably."

They were silent for a moment before Anna started talking again.

"Is it hard?" she asked, before frowning. "No, that's stupid. I know it's hard but …"

Steve was pretty sure he knew what she was asking. "It gets easier."

"But you still miss her, right? All the time?"

He nodded and swallowed. "Of course."

She sighed and he fought the urge to fidget in his seat as she watched him. He hadn't said much, but he had admitted more than he would have for anyone else. In the past it had always been simple facts about his mom that he'd shared with Anna, not feelings. He trusted her completely, but he was getting uncomfortable.

Glancing at her and seeing her frowning at him, he was about to put his defences back up and ask what her problem was, when she scooted forward and caught his lips in a kiss that made his heart speed up.

Kissing her back he tangled his hand in the hair at the back of her head and pulled her close, all the bad feelings of talking about his mother leaving immediately. He loved kissing Anna, loved having her pressed against him like she was, and _loved_ the way she was attempting to climb on to his lap, but for once his head was in the right place and he stopped her.

"You ain't gettin' out of talking that easily," he breathed.

She sighed and grinned a little. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

No, he couldn't. "Tell me what's goin' on," he said, keeping her close as she pulled away from him. "You don't have tell me everything, but you gotta talk about it a little."

She shrugged. "It's just hard. I really miss him, you know?"

He nodded; of course he knew.

"It's weird not being able to see him whenever I want. I used to visit him at least twice a week, now it's been six weeks without seeing him once and it's gonna be forever before I see him again." She paused. "It's really hard to get used to and it's always in the back of my mind that I'm never gonna see him again."

Steve's heart thudded when Anna lowered her head, hair curtaining her face.

"Please don't cry," he said quietly, reaching for her hand and moving right in front of her. "Any other girl crying I can handle, but _you_ crying is damn near torture."

And it really was. Glory, but he cared about her. Just the idea that she might cry was killing him.

She looked at him and smiled softly. He was pleased to see her eyes dry.

"You've seen me cry before."

"Yeah, and it's been shit each time. Especially the first time when it was me who made you cry." He frowned at the memory, hating himself a little, before continuing. "I hated seeing ya cry."

"I'm not going to cry," she said, and leaned into him, draping her leg over his.

He sighed. "I'm glad, but … you know, it's okay if you do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll hate it, but I won't leave ya to do it by yourself." He wondered if that was as close as he could come to telling her he'd be there for her.

Anna pursed her lips and frowned at him as if having a silent debate with herself. Raising an eyebrow, Steve waited, pretty sure she was trying to decide what to say next. Finally she looked away and sighed.

"That's pretty good of you," she said.

"You okay?" he asked, thumb stroking the skin of the knee she had resting on his own.

She nodded. "Yes."

"You wanna hop outta the car?" He didn't want to outright ask if she wanted to visit her grandpa's grave. It didn't quite sound right.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I think I was hoping it would help me, but the idea of going up there isn't at all appealing."

He decided not to push her. She hadn't said a whole lot, but she had opened up to him, and he was pretty sure it had helped.

"You wanna go for a drive?"

"A drive sounds good," she agreed.

He kissed her once, before starting the car and heading away from the cemetery.

As they drove back toward the outskirts of town, he thought about his whole relationship with Anna. It was different from anything he had ever experienced with a girl, different to anything he had ever thought he would experience with a girl. He had never worried this much about Evie, never tried this hard to make her feel better, never felt like his heart was being ripped out from seeing her cry … it wasn't a bad thing, he supposed, just different.

He briefly wondered what the guys would say or do if they knew how he was acting, if they knew he had pushed Anna away not twenty minutes ago to because he thought that her talking about what was upsetting her was more important than him getting laid.

Mentally shrugging, he figured the guys would never know about it anyway. This kind of behaviour only happened when he and Anna were alone and, with how private Anna was about personal things, he knew she preferred it that way as much as he did. Plus, for all he knew, they treated their girls exactly the same way when alone. Well, maybe not Dallas, but there must have been a good reason Kathy kept taking Two-Bit back. And Soda - he smirked - Soda had the biggest heart of all of them and he couldn't help but show it when Sandy was around.

"Steve?" Anna's voice was soft and he glanced at her as he drove. "Thanks for … everything."

"You don't have to thank me. I'd do it whenever."

"You're not the world's worst boyfriend," she said. "In fact, you were pretty amazing before."

He shrugged. "Well … I'm always pretty amazing."

"Yeah," she agreed softly, eyes shining in a way that made Steve's heart beat a million times faster, "you are."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Also thanks to the perfect imperfection for assuring me that Steve _wasn't_ being - and I quote - "unbearably sweet ... in an overdone, sappy way," lol. I do hope you all agree with her - if not, feel free to let me know :) Please review.


	38. Fools Rush In

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or Fools Rush In by many different people, lol. Originally written by Johnny Mercer with music by Rube Bloom, but I went with the Elvis version for this ;)

**

* * *

Tuesday, June 14, 1966**

Anna fought a grin as she watched Mary-Louise say goodbye to Danny. The girl had obviously taken quite the shine to him, and Anna couldn't be more happy at how uncomfortable it was making Danny. It wasn't that he didn't like Mary-Louise, he just didn't like her as much as she seemed to like him.

"So, you'll call me tomorrow?" she asked for the third time.

"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow," Danny said.

Anna ignored the glare Danny sent her way at the scoff she let out, and turned back to the bowl she was mixing. She liked the fact that Danny was almost in a serious relationship … well, as serious as he would let it be. Not only was Mary-Louise much nicer than Ruth Goodall, but Anna now found herself with something to use against her brother whenever he teased her about Steve.

"Bye, Anna," Mary-Louise called, walking toward the front door.

Anna grinned. "See ya."

Danny waited for Mary-Louise to leave before turning to Anna.

"Don't say a word," he snapped.

She shrugged. "What could I possibly say?"

"Good," he said, taking that as her agreement to not say anything.

"No, seriously," she continued, grinning again. "What could I possibly say about that? There are no words."

Danny sighed and threw himself into a chair at the table. "You're right."

Anna laughed and he grinned at her. "Really," he continued, "you're completely right. I ain't about to toot my own horn or nothin' but that girl is nuts for me."

"Can't think why," Anna muttered.

Danny snorted. "Could say the same about Steve. Dunno what he sees in you."

She pursed her lips, debating whether to bluff her willingness to tell Danny something he _really_ didn't want to hear, or to just come up with a smart comment. Remembering the way Mary-Louise had still been buttoning her blouse when she had walked into the kitchen, she went for the latter, not wanting the threat of Danny telling her something _she_ didn't want to hear.

"Why, my charm and personality, of course," she said dryly.

"You've got personality comin' outta your ass," Danny agreed. "But I haven't seen any charm from you in years."

She smirked. "You can talk, you kicked poor Mary-Louise outta here before she was even dressed."

"She had work," Danny explained. "I can't complain if she wants to visit me first."

"Can I complain?"

Danny gave her a look. "Can I complain about Randle?"

Anna ignored him and he smirked. She knew he wasn't serious, though. Even before Steve had gotten her to talk about Grandpa Joe - something Danny had been hoping for - he and Danny had started getting along pretty okay. Not great, but that was hardly surprising - she didn't think Danny would get along great with anyone she dated. But they had been getting along okay and Danny had let up on being so moody about her spending time with Steve.

She thought back to the day she and Steve had talked as she began spooning her mixture into the muffin tin. She hadn't said much, but it had been enough. Not just because she hadn't wanted to talk much in the first place, but because she really did feel better for the small amount she had said.

Missing Grandpa Joe was hard, and she knew it would be for a while. Everything she had told Steve had been true and it was hard to deal with. Hell, she missed Grandpa Joe more than she had ever missed her own mother after she had left, of course it was going to be hard to deal with. But she did feel better.

Steve hadn't said much while she had talked, but what he had said had been good. He'd made her talk about something she didn't want to, but he'd done the same to make her feel comfortable.

God she loved him.

A knock at the door came, and Anna looked up, smirking at Danny.

"Your girlfriend's back."

"Doubt it," he muttered, but didn't look impressed as he got up.

Instead of hearing Mary-Louise gush over how much she had already missed Danny, Anna heard her own boyfriend talking and her heart sped up. She rolled her eyes at herself. She still couldn't believe how pathetic she got around Steve - racing pulse, butterflies in her stomach, blushing - she felt like a character in a regular romance novel.

"Hey," he said, grinning as he came into the kitchen, hair slightly damp from the light rain.

She smiled, excited to see him even though she had just seen him that morning. "Hi."

He leaned down to kiss her and, ignoring her brother's disgusted scoff, she deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Aw, c'mon," Danny said. "At least I kept what I was doin' in my bedroom."

Steve smirked. "If that's what you'd prefer …"

Danny came back with some stupid comment and the two of them bantered for a few moments'. Anna didn't care what Danny said, though. He had once promised her that he'd kick Steve's ass if he caught him "shoving his tongue down her throat", but she knew that was just Danny being Danny. He wanted to kick Steve's ass for touching her, but he wouldn't kick Steve's ass unless he hurt her.

Danny turned to her. "Hey, the paper come this mornin'?"

"In the living room," she muttered.

Danny left for the living room, and Steve leaned into kiss her again. Anna wasn't about to turn him away; kissing Steve was one of her favourite things to do. They always made her weak at the knees.

She smiled against his lips and leaned in for more. But Steve pulled back, grinned at her, and stuck his chocolate covered finger into his mouth

"Hey!" she cried, indignantly. "That's perfectly good muffin mixture you're stealin' there."

"I know." He smirked. "Tastes like you."

She knew he was talking about her kisses - he had mentioned on more than one occasion how much he liked they way her mouth always tasted like chocolate mixture - but she blushed at the implication of his words, and the look in his eyes.

"Ya could've just kept kissin' me if you wanted to taste it so bad," she grumbled, going back to her baking.

"Why do that when I can have both?" His smirk grew as he snatched the wooden mixing spoon out of her hand.

"Steve!"

"Yeah?"

"C'mon, give it back."

"Why?" he asked, picking at the mixture on the spoon.

She sighed. "Because I need it."

Steve grinned and dangled the spoon just out of her reach.

"C'mon!" she said again.

"What?" he asked innocently.

Anna couldn't help but grin. Reaching for the spoon, she laughed as he lifted it higher still.

"C'mon, I need it," she said, still laughing.

Steve shrugged and smirked at her. "Then come get it."

She reached again, and he wrapped his free arm around her waist. Leaning in, he grinned at her and smeared the spoon and mixture over her mouth and chin.

"Hey!" she said, laughing as he pulled her close.

He growled softly before playfully kissing her and licking the mixture away. She couldn't help but laugh; when Steve was in a good mood, he was in a really good mood and she loved it.

"Anna," Danny said from the doorway.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she was surprised to see a teary Kathy standing behind him.

"Glory, Kathy, what happened?" she asked, struggling out of Steve's grasp and wiping away any remaining mixture on her face.

It took Kathy a minute before she could answer through her tears, but she finally managed to choke out that she and Two-Bit had broken up. Anna wasn't surprised; she had seen that look on her friends face enough times to know that it had something to do with Two-Bit Mathews.

Wrapping her arms around Kathy's shoulders, Anna gave Steve an apologetic look as he walked past her, probably heading for Two-Bit's.

"I'll see you later?"

He nodded. "I'll be back."

She watched him leave before directing Kathy to her bedroom, and onto her bed.

"Here," she said, handing her friend some tissues.

Kathy just cried harder.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Anna said, sitting next to Kathy and hugging her.

Kathy shook her head. "It's not," she cried. "It's not okay at all. It's all completely ruined."

Anna ran her hand over Kathy's hair as she did her best to pull herself together. She thought back over every other time Kathy and Two-Bit had broken up and knew she had never seen Kathy this upset.

"What happened?" she asked.

Kathy calmed herself down a little. "He asked about Danny," she said.

"What about Danny?"

"Everything," Kathy wailed. "If I had slept with him."

Anna closed her eyes a moment, realising full well what had happened.

"I couldn't lie!" Kathy continued, as more tears fell. "But I couldn't tell him it had happened either. Didn't really matter I suppose; he figured it out by my silence and -" she blew her nose "- I've never seen him that angry before, Anna."

"I understand why you couldn't lie," Anna said, "but he doesn't really have any right to be angry about it, does he? I mean, I hate to say it but I doubt he's been celibate every time the two of you have broken up."

Kathy nodded sadly. "I know."

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes and, despite being angry at Two-Bit for making Kathy cry again, she could understand where his anger came from. Just the idea of Steve and Evie sleeping together made her feel sick, and she knew it had happened, too. Steve had assured her it hadn't happened the last time they had been going out, but Anna had been forced to hear all about it from Evie before she had ever broken up with Steve all those months ago.

"He was so horrible about it," Kathy said quietly, breaking the silence between them. "I don't know if he was more hurt or angry, but I'd never seen him like that … I don't think he'll ever take me back."

Anna hugged her again. "It'll be okay," she said. "He might be hurt and angry, but he loves you. He might also be a bit of an idiot at times, but he'll come around eventually."

Kathy smiled in response, and Anna could only hope she was right.

XXXXX

Steve paused at the foot of the path leading up to Two-Bit's house, watching as his buddy lifted the bottle of what was probably bourbon to his lips and took a long drink. He had no idea what had happened, but in the months Two-Bit and Kathy had been together and apart, Steve had never seen Kathy that heart-broken.

If he thought about it, he'd never really seen her heart-broken at all. He'd seen her glancing longingly at Two-Bit across the hall between classes, he'd seen her doodling absentmindedly in her English notebook rather than taking detailed notes in the days after one of their break-ups, and he'd seen her fighting tears while doing her best to ignore Two-Bit and whatever girl he was flirting with.

He'd seen her sad plenty of times, but he'd never seen her like she was when she had turned up at Anna's.

Glancing up and down the street, he thought for a moment, before deciding that leaving Two-Bit alone wouldn't be the best idea. He slowly made his way up the path and stood in front of his buddy, glad the rain was more of a slight mist.

"Hey," he said, voice soft.

Two-Bit was scowling when he glanced up at Steve. "Whaddya want?" he sneered.

Steve shrugged and sat next to him, unsure of what to say. Normally if one of the guys were having girl troubles, they would help each other out by agreeing to go drinking with them, or backing them up when they jumped whichever guy was getting in their way. He wasn't sure either of those would work this time.

"Ah … just seein' how you're doin'," Steve said, frowning at his words. "Kathy turned up at Anna's in a right state."

"Good," Two-Bit muttered scornfully.

"Wanna tell me what happened?

Two-Bit sighed. "She slept with Harris."

Steve stiffened. Though he had technically cheated on Evie with Anna, it had only been a kiss … well, two kisses, but compared to sleeping with someone, that wasn't the same. Anna had been upset at the time, and there had obviously been something more than just friendship between them. He didn't know what was going on between Kathy and Danny, but he couldn't help but wonder if Two-Bit had his facts mixed up. Kathy was mad about Two-Bit; she wouldn't mess things up with him for anything.

He sighed and chose his words carefully. "Was this … recently?"

Two-Bit shook his head. "Na, it was when they dated a while back."

"So, she didn't cheat on you?" Steve asked, pleased he wouldn't be pissing off Anna by once again finding himself at odds with her brother.

"Do you think that actually matters?" Two-Bit asked.

"I guess not, but -"

"There ain't no buts, Steve," Two-Bit interrupted. "What if you and Anna broke up? What if she dumped you and you wanted to stay together? That's bad enough, right? But then you get back together a while before later finding out she screwed someone else while you were broken up. She was out screwin' some bastard all the time that you wanted her back and still loved her."

"Leave Anna outta this," Steve snapped, hating the mental image Two-Bit had invoked.

Two-Bit just raised an eyebrow. "Exactly."

He took a long drink and went back to scowling at his front lawn. Steve clenched his fists as he thought about someone else being with Anna. The mere idea of someone else touching or kissing her made him desperate to hit something.

The thoughts Two-Bit had just put into his head made Steve sick with rage. What had happened with Bolton a few weeks back was bad enough. Hell, the anger and jealousy he'd felt when he thought she was dating Soda had been bad enough … adding the idea of Anna no longer being with him and sleeping with someone else in the meantime was …

His anger suddenly turned cold as the rest of Two-Bit's words sunk in completely. _Loved her?_ He smirked, finding it highly unlikely that he loved _Anna_. The sudden thudding of his heart and shaking of his hands told him otherwise. He swallowed.

"Now what?" he quickly asked Two-Bit, wanting to keep his mind focused.

Two-Bit shrugged, and they were both silent. Steve wished Two-Bit would say something - _anything_ - to keep the conversation going. His head was racing, as though it were going a million miles an hour to catch up with his heart and where his heart had so obviously been for God only knew how long.

"I was really horrible to her," Two-Bit finally said.

Steve glanced at him, forcing out his words. "You were angry."

"Yeah, but …" he trailed off with a shake of is head. "I shouldn't have said what I did. As much as I hate what she did with him … I was too nasty."

Steve decided not to ask, knowing it would be better for the both of them if he didn't know. Two-Bit was his buddy and he would always take his side in any argument he and Kathy had, but he didn't need to hear the nasty things Two-Bit had said to the girl Steve had just seen crying.

"She _was_ really upset," he said, "but you know she loves you. Shoot, there ain't no one who doesn't know it."

Two-Bit shrugged. "I guess."

"Wanna go to Buck's?" Steve asked. "Forget about it for a while?"

"Na." Two-Bit stood. "I'm just gonna head in."

Steve stood too and watched as Two-Bit made his way inside, slamming the door closed behind him. Forcing his mind to stay on track, he considered going to Buck's by himself before deciding dead against it. Getting himself drunk right now wasn't what he needed.

But then, he had no idea what he did need. He thought about going to Soda's and talking to him, but - as understanding as Soda was - Steve wasn't sure he'd understand why this was a problem. And this _was_ a problem.

Sure, he cared about Anna - he cared about her a whole lot - but he didn't _love_ her. He couldn't love her … could he?

He and Evie had been together almost six months before they broke up the first time, and he had never even considered loving her. He'd loved being with her - he wouldn't have fought so hard to get her back otherwise - but love had never entered his mind when it had come to Evie.

Now, he and Anna had only been together a month and already the _L word _was running through his head?

Scoffing at himself, he left Two-Bit's front yard and made his way down the street. The only reason he was even considering this was because Two-Bit had said it first. There was no meaning to his thought process. He was surprised by what Two-Bit had said, and his surprise was lasting.

The fact that he couldn't keep his hands off of Anna, even if all he was doing was holding playing with her hair, didn't matter. Neither did the fact that his days always seemed better if he had woken up next to her, or that the simple thought of her brought a smile to his face.

It didn't mean anything that her happiness was more important to him than his own, that the image of her crying outside the Dingo that day still tore him to pieces, or that she made him happier than he had been since his mom died.

His favourite smiles of hers were the small ones she gave when he said something almost sweet. He didn't care about the slight hint of perfume when he trailed his tongue over a certain spot on her neck because it smelled so damn good and he couldn't help but nuzzle into it. He had taken to paying attention when "Stand By Me" came on the radio at work, not caring about Soda's smirk, but that didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

He continued telling himself this as he walked, but, deep down, knew his own conviction skills had turned to shit.

He looked up as a light drizzle began again, knowing he'd find himself outside Anna's, just as a part of him had known that was exactly where he'd been heading when he had left Two-Bit's. It was unsurprising really, he realised as he looked up to see her sitting with Kathy on the front porch and smiling when she saw him, he was completely in love with her after all.

* * *

**A/N:** The usual thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Extra thanks to the perfect imperfection for being awesome. Please review :)


	39. There's No Room For You Here

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'There's No Room For You Here' by The White Stripes.

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Monday, June 20th, 1966**

Steve threw his chocolate bar wrapper in the trash beneath the counter of the DX's store and grabbed his bottle of Coke. Taking a long swig, he let his mind wander back to where it had been before the guy with the tuff looking Chrysler came in.

He was in love. He was in love with his girlfriend, and it was okay. It was a little weird and he was having one hell of a time wrapping his head around it, but it was okay. He could deal with it, and he could admit to himself that he was in love with Anna.

There was just no way in hell he would admit it to anyone else. It was something no one else needed to know.

He'd mentioned to the guys a few more things about Anna and what she was like in bed, but nothing huge. He was always as discreet as possible, only giving away enough to keep his buddies happy … or happy enough. He'd give the occasional mention of getting laid and how great it was, but wouldn't go into more detail than was necessary. Telling them the odd thing about his sex life was fine.

But mentioning the fact that he loved Anna was something he couldn't do. For some reason, the idea of the guys knowing something about Anna and sex - and he hated how much they did know - was more appealing to him than any of them knowing how he really felt about her.

It wasn't as if they would hold it against him. Well, Dallas might, but no one else. It wasn't as if any of them _could_ really hold it against him. Soda was already head over heels for Sandy, Dally was always going back to and taking back Sylvia, Darry was mature enough to probably be glad Steve had got himself a serious girlfriend, Pony and Johnny probably wouldn't even give two shits, and Two-Bit … well, Two-Bit had seemed to know how Steve felt about Anna did before Steve did himself.

He frowned slightly, thinking that his buddies knowing about his feelings for Anna before he did was becoming a recurring thing. Soda had made it obvious enough that he had only asked Anna out so Steve would finally see what he was missing - what he truly wanted.

"Goddamn," he muttered, leaning his elbows on the counter. Knowing his luck, all the guys had figured it out before he had.

He doubted it, though. Soda, maybe, but no one else. Even Two-Bit, he was sure, had just said it because of what he had been feeling at the time. No one really had any idea and he planned on keeping it that way. He wasn't going to tell anyone.

Especially when he hadn't even told Anna.

Though, telling Anna wasn't something he wanted to do. He knew she felt something pretty fucking deep for him. He saw it every time she looked at him with her big green eyes, but doubted it was love. Love in their neighbourhood wasn't something many people grew up with, and was something even less people felt. Like Dallas. Steve was damn near sure Dally didn't love Sylvia, even if he did always end up with her.

As far as he was concerned, telling Anna could only end one way; rejection. Maybe not the kind where she would freak out and break up with him because of it, but definitely the kind where she doesn't say it back and he ends up feeling like the world's biggest pussy.

No, Anna finding out was not an option.

The bell above the door jingled, and Steve looked up, glad to have something to take his mind off of things. Seeing Evie, he frowned and almost wished he could go back to thinking about his unreturned feelings for Anna. Glancing at the clock as Evie sauntered up to him, he was relieved to see he could close up in twenty minutes anyway.

He looked back at Evie as she reached him, unable to not notice the way she was dressed, but unsurprised that it no longer did a thing for him. Where he used to get turned on just by looking at Evie in her short skirts and tight blouses, Steve now realised she was boyishly thin and didn't fill out the clothes nearly as well as Anna did.

He smirked at that, remembering the short skirt and tight blouse Anna had been wearing Saturday night at the drive-in. Despite how long he had once been hung up on Evie, there really was no comparison; Evie was pretty in her own way, but Anna was dead sexy and had the perfect amount of curves in the perfect places.

"Hey, Steve," Evie practically cooed.

He nodded and stood straight. "How's it goin'?"

"S'all right," she said with a small shrug.

There was a silence and Steve frowned. He had nothing to say to her. He'd agreed to put everything in the past for Anna's sake, and he was willing to stick to that, but he still had nothing to say to Evie.

"How's it goin'?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Pretty good. You?"

She shrugged again, and began tracing her long finger nail along the counter. "It's been okay," she said. "Quiet."

"Huh."

"I hear you've been takin' extra shifts here," she said, big eyes finally looking up at him.

"Yeah." He wasn't surprised to find their conversation turning monosyllabic … his side of it anyway.

"Probably doesn't give ya a whole lotta time to spend with Anna, huh?" she asked.

He smirked again. "Actually, Danny was never keen on her stayin' over on school nights, so we probably see each other more now than we did before, seein' that it's summer."

Evie's eyes narrowed and he knew he'd hit a nerve. Not only had Evie never been allowed to stay at his place, but he'd seen the way she had looked at him the last few times he had seen her. He wasn't sure she still wanted to be with him, but he'd seen some kind of want in her eyes. He didn't care, though - not after the slap she had given Anna - and was taking a small amount of pleasure rubbing the fact that Anna stayed over in Evie's nose.

"Right," she said, frowning.

"Yeah, so … was there somethin' you wanted?" he asked, knowing he was being rude.

The frown disappeared and she smiled. "Actually, I was hoping for a ride home."

"A ride home?"

"Yeah. I was out on a date with this guy I met over the weekend and it wasn't goin' too well." She began making her way around the counter as she spoke. "I got him to drop me off a few blocks back, but it's gettin' dark now and I really don't wanna be walkin' home by myself."

Steve eyed her cautiously. It wasn't that he thought she was up to something, he just didn't believe her story. Glancing at the clock, he saw that their awkward conversation had taken up ten minutes of the twenty he'd had left and figured another fifteen minutes of Evie was something he could deal with. Plus, as much as he no longer liked her, he didn't think she should be walking home alone.

He nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"You'll give me a ride?" she asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yeah," he said. "Just give me a few minutes to -"

She was on him before he even knew what was happening. Her body was pressed against him, her arms had tangled around his neck, and her lips were being forced against his own. Automatically, his own hands went to her waist, but instead of wrapping around her, he pushed.

"What the fuck?" he gasped, actually wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You want this, you know you do," Evie insisted, stepping closer again.

"No, I don't."

"Steve -" she began, but he interrupted her.

"Damn it, Evie!"

She stepped forward again. "You know you want this," she said, reaching out a hand to caress his chest.

He batted her hand away. "Stop," he said, voice low and angry. "Just … just get the fuck outta here."

She swallowed, and took a step back. "You'll come back to me one day," she said. "Until then, this can be our little secret."

"Jesus, Evie, fuck off!" he yelled, raising a shaking hand and pointing at the door.

Ignoring his anger, she smiled and winked before leaving. Following a moment later, Steve reached the door and locked it, making sure there was no way he'd have to deal with her again. He couldn't believe this shit.

With more force than necessary, he went around the store and turned off the pumps and lights before grabbing his jacket and leaving. Slamming the door closed behind him, he locked up, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now.

* * * * *

Deciding that reading a fashion magazine about clothes, make-up and accessories she couldn't afford was depressing, Anna stood from the kitchen table to get a Coke and considered calling Kathy. Her best friend wasn't doing too well since her most recent break-up with Two-Bit, and Anna wanted to check in on her.

"Grab me a beer, will ya?" Danny asked, coming into the kitchen.

Anna made a face at him, but grabbed the beer anyway, sitting it in front of him as she sat back in her seat. Instead of opening the can, Danny sat back in the seat he had occupied and stared at her.

"What?" she finally asked.

"I gotta talk to you about somethin'," Danny said, suddenly sounding serious.

"Oh yeah?"

"I got a call from Grandpa Joe's lawyer today."

"Grandpa Joe had a lawyer?" she asked in surprise.

Danny shrugged then forced a smirk. "Yeah, I guess it's one of those adult things, ya know? He had a house and wasn't all that young …"

Anna nodded and watched Danny trail off and take a drink of his beer.

"Anyway, this guy, the lawyer, he was at the funeral and I gave him the number for downtown to call if he needed anything and he called today."

"What for?"

He looked at her for a few long seconds before answering. "Turns out Grandpa had a final will drawn up about a year ago and everything was left to you and me."

"Like what?" she asked, an uncomfortable feeling coming over her.

"Like everything; everything in the house, the couple of hundred bucks in his bank account … and his house."

Anna's eyes widened as she remembered the green house she had visited so often. "His house?"

"Yep." Danny looked about as happy about the situation as Anna felt.

"What are we supposed to do with his house?"

He shrugged. "Whatever we want I guess."

"I don't want it," she said, not even thinking about anything other than the idea of actually having to go to his house and see his belongings.

"Anna -"

She looked at her brother. "I don't want the house or anything in it or the money in the bank."

Danny was silent, giving her a few moments but Anna didn't know what else to say or think.

"I just … I can't." _I can't go in there_, she finished silently.

"It's okay," Danny said. "There ain't no rush. I'm not so keen on dealing with it all either and we don't have to do anything about it right now. I just thought you should know."

"Right." She ran a hand through her hair. "Sorry."

"Just think about it," he said. "When you're feelin' up to it, give it all some thought and we'll go from there."

She nodded. "I'm sorry it's all being left to you," she said.

"Aw, kid, you know I can handle it," he said with a grin and she knew he was being honest. "The place is ours now and if we don't wanna deal with it for the next few months, we don't have to."

Heart beating faster than she would like, Anna nodded and tried to process what that all meant. All she could really understand was that the house and everything in it belonged to her and Danny and that meant she would have to eventually go into it and see the things Grandpa Joe had owned.

"You gonna be all right?" Danny asked, standing up.

She nodded, silently wishing Steve was there.

"I'll be fine," she said, and left the kitchen for bed.

XXXXX

"You have to tell Anna," Soda said, leaning forward in his seat.

"Are you kidding?" Two-Bit yelled, as Dally just scoffed.

"No, I ain't kidding," Soda said. "She's gonna find out somehow, they always do."

"You speakin' from experience there?" Dally asked with a smirk.

Soda grinned. "Na, just by what you've said."

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't known if telling Soda, Two-Bit, and Dallas about Evie would be a good idea, but he was beginning to think it wasn't. He had only told them what had happened seconds ago and they had already turned his problem into a reason to mock each other.

"This isn't helping," he said, breaking up Dally and Soda's wrestling match.

"Sorry, buddy," Soda said, sitting himself back on the couch in Two-Bit's living room.

"Don't tell her," Dally said, staying where he was on the floor and lighting up a cigarette. "She'll only take it the wrong way and then you'll have to deal with her bullshit as well as Evie's."

"Ya reckon?" Steve asked, trying to imagine Anna's reaction if he told her about Evie kissing him.

"Uh-huh." Dally blew a smoke ring before continuing. "Wanna know why Sylvia's so fuckin' crazy? It's 'cause I was honest with her once and she didn't like it."

"You were honest once?" Soda asked, grinning again

Dally flipped him off. Steve figured he must have been in a pretty good mood to be letting Soda tease him so much without getting too pissed off about it.

"First time I screwed around on her I actually felt a little bad," Dally continued. He sat up slightly and grinned at them. "Pretty crazy, huh? Now all I gotta do is get caught talkin' to another broad and Sylvia gets her panties in a twist."

"But I didn't cheat," Steve pointed out. "Evie threw herself at me and I told her to fuck off. It didn't mean nothin'."

"Don't matter," Dally mumbled, lying back down. "Your girl won't see it that way."

Steve was too worried that Dally might actually be right to point out all the other differences between his relationship with Anna and Dally's relationship with Sylvia. Even he could see that he and Anna were a lot more stable than Dally and Sylvia. Plus, Anna didn't have the mean streak Sylvia did. She had _a_ mean streak, but no one had a mean streak like Sylvia.

"She might understand," Soda said. "If ya just explain everything to her, she might understand."

"Or she might rip his balls off," Dally contended.

Steve ran his hand through his hair again and frowned. Telling Anna was the _right_ thing to do, he knew that. But it wasn't the easy thing to do. He shouldn't be trying to take the easy way out of this situation, but he didn't want to risk things not going well if he told her. He didn't want to risk losing her if she took it the wrong way.

Now that he knew he was in love with her, the thought of not being with Anna made his heart sink. He wanted her, for as long as he could have her, and he didn't want anything to ruin that. But would telling her about what had happened with Evie ruin it or would not telling her ruin it? Like Soda had said, she could find out anyway.

"I think you should tell her," Two-Bit said quietly.

Steve looked at him, realising he had been fairly quiet for a while now. "Yeah?"

"If she's gonna find out, she's gonna prefer to hear it from you, and prefer to hear it from you right away," Two-Bit said, looking at him.

Steve nodded, knowing Two-Bit was thinking about Kathy. "I guess you're right."

"Although," Soda began, with an apologetic look, "maybe she _will_ take it the wrong way."

Steve sighed. "Pick a side already, Soda."

"I'm just sayin', it ain't any girl who came in and kissed ya … it's Evie - your ex-girlfriend and Anna's own cousin."

That was a good point. Not only could it mess things up for himself and Anna, but also Evie and Anna. Evie deserved to lose her cousin for the shit she was pulling, but Anna didn't deserve to have that happen again.

"Whatever ya do, things could get messy," Two-Bit said.

Steve's knuckles itched. "You guys are all over the fuckin' place with your advice. It ain't helpin'."

Dally stood. "Do whatever, man. Two-Bit's right; it could get messy either way. Just remember that if ya don't tell her, she may never find out." He turned to Two-Bit. "Where's ya beer?"

Two-Bit pointed to the kitchen with a grin. "Grab us all one, would ya? I stocked up for Saturday night and got more than enough to go 'round."

Two-Bit's birthday was that very day, but he had decided to put off his party until the following weekend. He told Steve it was because his mom hadn't working this past weekend, but Steve had a feeling it had more to do with Two-Bit not being in much of a partying mood after what had happened with Kathy.

"Not me." Soda stood. "I gotta get going; work in the morning."

"Yeah, I gotta go too," Steve said.

They said their goodbyes and were outside a minute later. It was surprisingly cool for a summer's night, and Steve shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Whaddya gonna do?" Soda asked, as they walked down the street.

Steve shrugged. "I dunno."

"As much as I think Anna deserves to know, tellin' her is just gonna upset her," Soda pointed out.

"So you don't think I should?"

Soda shrugged. "I really don't know. You probably _should_, but she won't like it."

That didn't help. It was basically what he had been thinking himself. He should tell her, but what if it didn't go well?

"Would you tell Sandy?" he asked.

"Well, yeah … but I don't have an ex-girlfriend I was hung up on while Sandy was pining for me," Soda said pointedly.

Steve frowned. "You think Anna'll be jealous?"

"I think it really bothered Anna when she had to see you and Evie together all the time," Soda said. "Like that night at the drive-in."

"What about it?"

Soda glanced at him. "The reason she took off was 'cause she saw you and Evie goin' at it by the concession stand. It really upset her."

Steve was surprised. Two-Bit had pointed out his thoughts on when Anna had started liking Steve, and Anna had confirmed them while they lay in bed one night, but he hadn't realised she had seen he and Evie that night at the drive-in. He hadn't realised how hard it must have been for her to see him with Evie.

He suddenly felt guilty for something he had no control over. He hated that he had hurt Anna - even if it had been unknowingly - and he realised then that he couldn't do it again.

"It didn't mean anything," Steve stressed. "And I know Evie's not gonna say anything."

"So, you're not gonna tell her?"

Steve shook his head, new resolve flowing over him. Anna had had enough shit over the last few months, and too much of it had been caused by him … he refused to add anymore to it.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, I really appreciate it :)


	40. Will You Walk With Me Out On The Wire?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen which both the fic and chapter are named after.

**A/N 1: **Rated T for a reason.

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**Saturday, June 25th, 1966**

As far as Anna was concerned Two-Bit's birthday party was much more enjoyable than Steve's had been.

She felt bad about Kathy spending the night alone, but her best friend had insisted that Anna go to the party and have a good time. The only reason Anna had agreed was because Kathy was coming down with a stomach bug anyway, and really didn't feel like being social.

But, on the up-side, she and Steve were together at this party. She didn't have to sit by and watch him kiss Evie. When they danced, there was no worry about how much she was going to hurt when the dance was over. This party was basically everything she wished Steve's had been.

"Is Two-Bit okay?" Sandy asked her as they headed outside to get some air.

Anna frowned. "I'm not entirely sure."

Two-Bit was probably drunker than she had ever seen him before, and she'd seen him plenty drunk in the past. The fact that he hadn't flirted with a single girl all night made Anna pretty sure it had more to do with him not being with Kathy, than it being his party. She was also pretty sure Kathy was the reason he'd put his party off, partly in hopes the two of them might be back together by now.

She really hoped the two of them worked themselves out soon though; they might have been a mess when they were together, but they were messier apart.

Kathy had taken to spending a lot of time at Anna's rather than being at home. Anna didn't mind. In fact, she was enjoying having another girl in the house. Neither her dad nor Danny was home very often, but it was still nice to have female company for a change.

As for Two-Bit, well, Anna hadn't seen him much in the last week or so, but the few times she had seen him, he hadn't looked too great. In fact, he'd looked completely hung-over. She knew he liked to drink, and she also knew he liked to drink even more when life wasn't treating him too well.

"Anyway," she said, leaning against the porch railing at the side of the house, "how's things goin' with Soda?"

Sandy smiled and Anna couldn't help but notice how it lit up her whole face.

"It's going really well," Sandy said. "He's real sweet."

Anna smirked. "That he is."

"What about you and Steve?" Sandy asked.

"Well, I'm not sure _sweet_ could be used to describe Steve," Anna said, grinning. "But he's as close to sweet as a greaser like him's gonna get."

"You talkin' about me again?" Steve wrapped his arms around her from behind and her grin grew.

"Yes, because you are all I ever talk about," she said dryly.

He smirked against her ear. "That's 'cause you can't get enough of me."

"Good Lord," Sandy said, laughing. "I think I'm gonna go find Soda before you two become sickening."

Anna laughed as Steve turned her around to face him.

"You don't think I'm _sweet_?" he asked, grimacing slightly at the word.

She shrugged and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Maybe … for a greaser whose favourite pastime is cars."

He smirked again, and leaned closer. "Actually, _you're_ my favourite pastime."

To rid her urge of squealing like a little girl, Anna went onto her tip-toes and kissed him, tightening her arms around his neck. Steve responded right away, pushing her back against the porch railing behind her and pressing himself against her, sending all kinds of warm feelings through her.

She couldn't describe the way she felt when Steve kissed or touched her. All she knew was that he made her crazy enough with want for him that she didn't care that there was a party going on around them, that the house they were standing outside of was full of people they knew, that anyone could turn the corner and see Steve's hands sliding up the inside of her blouse.

"Ah, young love," Two-Bit said as he stumbled toward them.

Anna pulled back, breathing deeply, and smirked slightly as Steve's arms tightened around her. Too many times now his friends had caught them in a heated make-out session … or more. She knew he hated it every time; hated his buddies seeing whatever skin of hers was often showing, hated their stupid remarks about it and - more than anything - hated having to stop.

"You two sure are looking mighty happy," Two-Bit continued while Steve's fingers still stroked her back beneath her blouse. "I take it she took it well?"

Steve tensed, his arms tightening around her.

Anna frowned. "Who took what well?" she asked.

"Nothing," Steve mumbled quickly, throwing a dark look in Two-Bit's direction.

Two-Bit looked guilty. "Yeah, nothing," he agreed. "I'm just gettin' myself all confused, and it's nothin' at all."

Anna might have been not particularly smart when it came to her school work, but she wasn't stupid. Steve's body was rigid, and Two-Bit was looking mighty guilty. Someone was keeping something from her. Struggling out of Steve's arms, she looked up to see him glaring at Two-Bit.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Nothing," he said again, practically snapping at her as he pulled her back in to his arms.

"I don't believe you," she said.

Pulling away, she looked from to Two-Bit - who was looking at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck - and back to Steve. She had no idea what was going on, but could tell by both of their reactions that it wasn't anything good.

"Anna, c'mon, it's nothing important," Steve said.

He reached for her hand, circling his fingers around her wrist to pull her to him, but she didn't budge. She looked at him, hating the way he wouldn't hold her gaze for more than a few seconds.

"If it's nothing important, then you shouldn't have a problem telling me," she said.

He looked at her properly, anger and guilt showing. She yanked her hand out of his grasp, hating what she was seeing. Steve had been angry with her plenty in the years she had known him, but guilt wasn't something she had ever seen before. Not knowing what to think, she continued to stare at him, wondering if whatever he was keeping from her was as bad as she was imagining.

"It's nothing," he said.

"Whatever it is sure seems important enough for you to be lookin' guilty," she pointed out.

"Please," he said, "it's better if you don't know."

Her heart clenched at those words. "Fine," she said, "if you won't tell me I'm sure Two-Bit will; he seems to have a hard time keepin' his mouth shut."

She wanted to make her point by looking at Two-Bit and forcing him to say something, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Steve's.

"Look, I …" He grabbed her wrist again, and paused for a few seconds. "Evie came into work the other night …"

Her heart dropped. _Evie_.

"And?"

Steve looked at her imploringly, as if silently begging her to say that it was all right, she didn't need to know. She did need to know. He was obviously keeping something from her, something about Evie, and she _needed_ to know. She raised her eyebrows, prompting him to continue.

"She kissed me."

Anna felt hot all over as she focused on the words, and she frowned in confusion. _She kissed him?_ What did that even mean? Had she just gone into the garage and thrown herself at him or had Steve let it happen and kissed her -

"Oh, God," she muttered.

"Anna -" Steve began, but she turned away, not wanting to hear anymore. His voice got louder as she made her way across the porch and down the steps. "It was nothing!"

She didn't hear anything else he said as she reached the sidewalk and began running. She didn't want to hear anything else, either. Right then, it didn't matter if it didn't mean anything; it had still happened. Evie had kissed him. His ex-girlfriend - who Anna hadn't stopped having a bit of paranoid jealousy over - had kissed him. And he hadn't told her.

She wanted to throw up.

Instead, she stopped short on the sidewalk as she neared Steve's house, noticing just who was heading her way. Rage boiled inside of her like she couldn't believe as she stared at Evie and Sylvia. She was hurt, angry, and confused, and could only remember ever feeling like this once before - the night Grandpa Joe had died and she had tried to attack Ruth.

"How could you?" she asked loudly, as she made her way up to Evie.

Evie raised an eyebrow. "How could I what?"

"Don't play dumb, Evie, it suits you too well," Anna snapped.

Evie narrowed her eyes for a second, before turning to Sylvia. "I'll catch up," she said.

Sylvia shrugged and left.

"You're my cousin," Anna said once Sylvia was out of earshot. "You're not supposed to try and steal my boyfriend out from right under me!"

"Oh yeah, because being family means so much to you," Evie said sarcastically. "In case you've forgotten, you did exactly that. You stole Steve from me!"

Anna shook her head. "I _never_ tried to take him away from you, Evie," she said, voice rising. "I never made any move for him or his attentions. I never told him or showed how I truly felt about him until the two of you had broken up."

"You kissed him!" Evie shouted. "While he was still _my_ boyfriend."

"That wasn't planned!" she said. "But that's what this is about, isn't? It was your pride that got hurt more than your feelings when Steve dumped you for me, and now you're doing your best to what? Hurt us? Make us break up? Get him back?" Anna ran a hand through her hair.

Evie rested her hands on her hips, and said nothing.

"Although, you seem happy enough to throw yourself at him like the daily special so you obviously have no problem with him," Anna continued. "Is it me you want to get back at? Are you doin' all this just to get back at me for takin' him away from you?"

"So what if I am?" Evie asked, making it clear that her intentions were nothing but fake. "It's none of your business why I did what I did."

"The hell it's not!" Anna yelled. "You kissed my boyfriend for no reason other than some kind of petty revenge. You don't want him, you don't care about him. I love him, and you've ruined everything!"

Evie was silent as she stared at Anna in shock. In fact, it seemed to Anna as though everything had gone eerily quiet except for a slight ringing in her ears caused by her own yelling.

She didn't understand why this was hurting so bad. Yes, she loved Steve - sometimes so much that it physically hurt - and he had kept this from her, but she felt near tears because of it. The last time she had cried had been the night Grandpa Joe had died and not once for him since. She hated that she was fighting the urge to cry now, just because of a little heartbreak.

It was only a moment later that the sounds of the still raging party down the street came back into focus and a low voice cut through the ringing like glass.

"Anna," Steve said from behind her.

Her heart seized, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment. This was just her goddamn luck. Opening them, she pushed past her cousin to continue down the street. She didn't care if Steve had heard her declaration of love, she didn't care if he was following her, she didn't care if she was over-reacting. She only cared that he had been kissed by Evie and it still made her want to throw up.

XXXXX

Though Steve could hardly believe what he had just heard, some small part of him wasn't the slightest bit surprised. Anna loving him just made sense. He didn't know how or why or anything that could resemble something close to a sane thought. All he knew was that she loved him … and, despite the sudden urge he had to throw up, he couldn't be happier.

The stubborn girl meant more to him than anything. She was full of flaws and she pissed him off at least three times a day, but glory he loved her back. Knowing she felt the same eased the pressure he'd been feeling in his chest since realising how he felt about her.

He didn't know what to do when the girls in front of him went silent, so he said her name; it was all he could think to do. He knew what he _had_ to do - that he had to convince her that Evie kissing him had meant nothing, that he had pushed Evie away, that he loved her back. The last one terrified him more than he cared to admit, but he had a feeling it had to be done. So he said her name and, as usual, she ran.

She didn't make it ten feet before Steve caught her by the wrist and yanked her around to face him. Refusing to look at him, she stared at everything else as she struggled; the ground, the surrounding houses, Evie, who was still standing there watching them. He wasn't going to let her go, though. Not this time.

"Let me go," she hissed.

"No."

With every foot of progress she managed to make down the street while trying to pull out of his grasp, he made three by pulling her back.

He silently cursed Two-Bit for spilling everything, before cursing himself for not telling Two-Bit he had decided against telling Anna anything. He couldn't believe how bad this had gone. He had expected her to be upset, sure, but he'd never imagined this kind of reaction. Surely she knew that it meant nothing. That he only wanted her.

"Please," she moaned, and he hated the desperation in her voice. "Just let me go. Right now."

"Y'know, I'm almost certain we've had this conversation before," he said, pushing her against someone's fence as the memory of the night her grandpa had died came to him, "and this time's no different; I ain't lettin' ya go."

"She kissed you!" she yelled at him, pushing angrily at his chest. He could see all her hurt turning into anger. "She kissed you, and you never bothered to tell me."

"Because it doesn't matter and it meant nothing!" he said, not caring that they were yelling at each other in the middle of the sidewalk, or that the subject of their argument was still standing there, watching them, hearing every word he was saying. "She threw herself at me, and I pushed her away not a second later."

Anna swiped away angry tears that had fallen and his heart clenched at the sight of them. It killed him that he had hurt her again, that he had made her cry again.

"You expect me to believe that?" she asked incredulously.

"I've never lied to you before," he said.

"But it's _Evie_," she pointed out, throwing an arm in her cousins direction. "She's who you wanted for so long. The only reason you ever agreed to tutor me was 'cause I offered to help you get her back. God, and you were _so_ happy when it finally happened."

He realised then that Soda had been right; Anna was jealous. She was jealous and she was hurting because of it. It occurred to him that she had probably been feeling this way for some time now, too.

"It doesn't matter," he yelled.

"How can you say -"

"Because it's you, Anna," he said. "It's you, not Evie. It's you I want to be with, it's you I broke up with Evie for, and it's you I can't stop fucking thinking about!"

"But it's _Evie_!"

"No!" he interrupted. "It's only you, Anna. Get that through your damn head. Nothing happened with Evie, it meant nothing, and it didn't matter because it's only you."

He stepped forward and kissed her hard, hands holding the side of her face to him and refusing to let her go. Pressing her body into the fence, he was reminded again of the night he had first kissed her and it only made him kiss her harder, despite her lack of response. He needed her to know, to understand. He pulled back slightly, lips still on hers.

"Stop," she murmured against his mouth.

"It's you," he said again, wiping the tears from her face. His voice was soft and his heart pounding. "It's only you that I love."

He kissed her again, gentler than the last time, and after a moment - the moment it took for his words to sink in - she finally kissed him back.

He sighed in relief into her mouth.

He kept the kiss short. Pulling back, he stared at her as she opened her eyes, and for the first time, he knowingly let her see everything he was feeling. He let down every guard he'd ever had and hid nothing as he looked at her. She looked back, eyes wide, and he knew that the looks she had been giving him for so long now was the love she had told Evie she felt.

She swallowed, looking anxious. "Steve?"

"C'mon," he muttered.

Grabbing her wrist with one hand, he rested his other on her lower back and directed her down the road to his house. He had a slight buzz going, had adrenaline cursing through him at what had just happened, and was desperate to be with her, but he still managed a vague thanks that his dad wasn't home as he led her up the porch steps.

Once alone, he wasn't patient with her. He couldn't be patient with her, because she was still looking anxious and worrying her bottom lip. He _needed_ her to know how he felt and wasn't sure his words were enough. His actions, his body, his entire being had to show her just what she meant to him.

His kiss was rough, forceful, and heated, his touch commanding, desperate, almost bruising, and his body hard, strong and crushing hers as he pushed her back against the front door he had just closed. But she was compliant to every single thing he did. Compliant, and just as eager as she kissed him back, pressed herself closer to him, and clawed at him through the back of his t-shirt, attempting to pull him closer though there wasn't a sliver of space between them.

He kissed her like a dying man, as though it was his last chance to be with her, to taste her, to have her. And it was perfect. Nothing about her at that very moment could have been more perfect. The sighs of pleasure she gave as his hands gripped her body, the digging of her nails in his shoulders as he sucked her tongue into his mouth, and the arch of her body against his when he drove his hips into hers.

There was no recollection of time in Steve's mind - it could have been seconds, or minutes, hours even - but the sound of her moaning against his mouth as he ripped open her blouse had him crashing back to reality. He pulled away, gasping for breath and unclenching his hands from the material he was clutching.

Resting his hands on either side of her head, he leaned against the door, looking at her. Despite the intensity of what had just happened between them, and despite wanting to show her how he felt, all he wanted to do was take her. He figured it was hardly surprising considering the flush to her skin, the way her breasts were heaving as she gasped for air, and the look of desire she had flooding her eyes as she looked at him.

"Christ," he breathed, watching her tongue dart out to wet her lips.

As his eyes lingered on her chest, a tiny part of him wondered if he was about to lose her with the way he had been touching her. It wasn't as though he'd ever had to hold back with her; she'd always been willing and eager and always took to his need for her with a passion of her own. But he'd never been rough with her. She might have been compliant, but he was sure there would be finger-tip shaped bruises on her hips in the morning.

But then she whimpered, squirming under his gaze as he dragged his eyes back to hers.

"Please don't stop," she whispered, voice ragged.

He might have been worried about going too far, but he had no intention of stopping.

His hands went right back to her clothes, pulling, tugging, ripping in his effort to get them off of her. He needed her skin, to feel her against himself and show her everything she needed to know. Being against the door like they were probably wasn't the right way to do things, but then, when had he and Anna ever done things the right way?

Her blouse and bra were on the floor next to his feet, his t-shirt falling to meet them, when she shoved him back and turned them around. He shuddered at her movements; it always gave him chills when she took charge. The change in positions wasn't great for his extreme desire to kiss her, but her fingers working the button and zipper on his jeans distracted him too easily. His kisses became unfocused and all his thoughts were on the nimble fingers brushing his skin and the lips that left his to explore his neck and throat.

She stopped kissing him, pulling back to look at him. Hazy green eyes stared at him when he looked at her, and he once again wondered how it had taken him so long to realise something so obvious about her.

Reaching out, he tucked a stray piece of her behind her ear, the tenderness of his gesture sticking out after the harsh way they had been kissing.

"Did you mean it?" she asked, barely a whisper.

He swallowed and nodded. "Yes." And God help him, he did.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading, and thanks to aero and la belle nuit for their help. I'm a tiny bit nervous about this chapter so please review and let me know what you think - I'd really appreciate it :)


	41. Saw Red

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Saw Red' by Sublime featuring Gwen Stefani.

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Sunday, July 3rd, 1966**

In a way, everything had changed.

In one way everything was exactly how it had been when Steve and Anna had first gotten together. Steve didn't think he'd ever get used to Anna's annoying habits and the way she did her best to provoke him.

She still constantly tapped anything she could get her hands on against whatever was nearby and it still pissed Steve off to no end. She still almost always took Two-Bit's side in any disagreement Steve had with him, just so she could smirk at his reaction which was always what she knew it would be. She was still stubborn about any little thing, including her strange theory that she should be allowed to drive his car because she'd already driven it once so, really, what would it hurt?

Steve had rejected that idea right away.

But then they had these moments that made him forget everything she had ever done that had frustrated him. Moments that made everything different. They weren't significant moments, but they were important to him.

They would share these looks - looks he could never describe if he spent the rest of his life trying. They'd always shared looks during their time together - across Buck's, through the crowded school halls, or when sitting around the fire in the lot with their friends - but those looks weren't like these looks.

These looks didn't hold his smirk of I-know-what-you-let-me-do-to-you-last-night. They didn't have his what-are-you-thinking-when-you-look-at-me-like-that frown to them. They didn't have his I-don't-know-what-it-is-you're-making-me-feel-and-I-don't-know-if-it-pisses-me-off scowl.

Because the looks she gave him told him everything he needed to know.

Anna had always been an open book. He was pretty sure he could count on one hand the amount of times he'd looked at her and not had a single clue about how she felt, or what she was feeling. Except for the obvious times when he hadn't known how she had felt about him and the _love_ situation. He hadn't known about those until it had been right in front of him.

Now, they would share these looks - looks that lasted no more than two seconds - and he could see everything.

There wasn't a whole lot Steve was afraid of, but sometimes those looks would scare him. He wasn't sure if it was possible, but they scared him in a good way. Knowing that someone loved him, genuinely loved him as much as he could see in Anna's eyes when they shared these looks … it scared him that someone could feel that intensely for him.

It also made him grin like a fool when he thought about.

He wasn't a complete sap, but this love thing sure was making him a little crazy. Well, he supposed that wasn't quite true; he'd been going soft where Anna was concerned for a while now.

That was why he grabbed her wrist and told her to get the hell home when they arrived at his place after visiting Two-Bit and Kathy who were happily back together. He could see what was going on and knew that, for once, the silence wasn't a good thing.

"Steve?" she asked, frowning at him.

His grip tightened. "I need you to go home."

"Why?" She sounded worried, but he didn't have time for that.

"I just need you to go," he said.

She grimaced and looked down at her wrist. Steve realised he'd tightened his grip again and was hurting her.

"Shit," he muttered. He slid his hand to hers and lifted her arm, pressing a gentle kiss to the smooth skin of her small wrist. He'd felt sick, literally sick, the other week after seeing the bruises he'd left on her hips and outer thighs. She hadn't cared. She said she could have stopped him anytime, if she'd wanted to. He knew she'd been right, but had also made the life threatening promise to himself to never bruise her again.

He hadn't been holding her wrist tight enough to bruise her now, but that hardly mattered.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he told her, lips against her skin, eyes on hers.

"You didn't," she said, and gave him a small smile. "It was just uncomfortable."

He nodded and lowered her hand. "I need you to go."

She opened her mouth to say something, but Millie coming out of the house and storming toward them put a stop to whatever it was she was going to say. Millie stopped in front of them, and, even in the dark, Steve could see the tear tracks on her cheeks. His eyes hardened.

"Hey, kids," she said.

"You're goin'," Steve said, not asking.

She nodded. "I can't hang around here no more, kiddo. I'm sorry."

Steve shrugged, but he was furious. Not at Millie; at his dad.

"Listen," she continued, stepping closer. "I don't got much, but if either of ya ever need anything, you come find me, ya hear?"

Anna nodded, but Steve said nothing.

"I mean it," Millie said, looking between them. "I ain't either of your old ladies, but you two are good kids. I'll help ya however I can if ya ever need it."

"Thanks, Millie," Anna said.

Steve nodded.

Millie grinned at him. "Shoulda known tellin' you was a waste of time." She glanced back at the house, then back at Steve. "Don't you let him get to ya, kid."

He said nothing, just watched as she hurried to her car and climbed in. Anna turned to him as Millie drove down the street.

"You gotta go," he said, looking down at his girlfriend.

She glanced back at the house to see his dad standing in the door way. "Okay," she said and nodded. "But, come around tonight if ya need to."

Steve nodded, giving the hand he was still holding a quick squeeze.

Anna turned away from him, stopping at the edge of his property to give him a worried smile before leaving. Steve watched her for a minute before looking back at the house. His dad had already headed inside.

So Millie was gone.

Steve knew it shouldn't bother him, and it wasn't so much the fact that she was gone that bothered him, as the reason she was gone. He liked Millie. She had only been around for a short time, but she had been around a lot. She really wasn't as bad as he had originally thought.

She cooked, she cleaned, she shared her cigarettes with him. She wasn't exactly step-mother material, but Steve had decided that was what he liked about her. Even if she stuck around, he knew there was no chance of her actually replacing his mom. He also knew he sounded like a complete pansy even thinking about shit like that.

He had found himself wondering just how long she would stick around for. Often enough over the last week or two, he'd come home from work or Anna's to hear his dad and Millie arguing in the living room. He never bothered to stick around for it, but had managed to catch a glimpse of the tears on Millie's face. Steve felt it was bad enough his dad hollered at him all the time; he didn't need to do it to his girlfriend, too.

It didn't matter to Steve that he'd only known Millie for a few weeks; she had treated him better in that time than his dad had for the last six years. In Steve's opinion, that alone made his dad the one in the wrong while fighting with Millie. It had also made him wonder if that was how his mom had been treated when she was still alive. He couldn't remember his dad ever acting the way he did before then, but Steve had just been a kid; he couldn't remember everything about it.

Asking his dad that very thing would be one hell of a stupid thing to do, and Steve knew it. Knowing it was stupid didn't stop him from doing it as he walked into the house and faced his dad in the hall.

"What did ya say?" his dad snapped, alcohol reeking from his breath as they stood face to face in the hallway.

Steve sneered in disgust. "I asked if you treated Mom as shitty as you treated Millie?"

"You don't know shit, kid, so mind your own fucking business."

Millie had been _nice_. She hadn't deserved the kind of shit his dad had probably put her through. Steve knew he was going to regret his words later, but he was just too angry to care.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Millie deserves better than you, anyway."

As drunk as his dad seemed to be, Steve wasn't surprised to feel his back hit the wall behind him or see his t-shirt fisted in his dad's clenched fist. John leaned closer to Steve, eyes narrowing, and Steve almost hoped he hit him. Anything to have the chance to hit him back.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about," John hissed.

Steve didn't back down. "Is that how ya treated Mom?" he asked, feeling his hatred for the man in front of him growing by the second. "'Cause if it is, then she's better off where she is."

John stared at him for a minute, before stepping back and letting Steve go. A smirk grew on his face.

"Like I said, you don't know shit." He paused. "S'pose ya don't remember all the men she used to traipse in and outta here? Probably too young, huh?"

Steve was silent. He had no words for that, nothing he could say without spitting words of revulsion.

His dad continued. "All the time while I was out workin' my ass off, she'd be bringin' man after man in here. Lettin' 'em fuck her in my bed.

"You're lying," Steve said, voice low and dangerous.

"Am I?"

He was, Steve knew he was, but that didn't stop the anger from welling inside of him. His mom hadn't been perfect, but who was? He knew she had never brought men into the house. She hadn't slept around on her husband, and the anger Steve felt at his dad for even suggesting it was ready to overflow.

Pushing himself up from the wall, he glared at his dad. "Fuck you."

John Randle shook his head. "Yer mother was a slut and it was 'bout time ya knew it."

Steve couldn't control his anger at that point. Saying she slept around was one thing - calling her a slut was too much. He threw himself at his dad. Having surprise and his dad's drunkenness on his side, Steve got in a few punches before John realised what was going on and began fighting back.

He felt the hit to his eye, the sucker-punch to his ribs, and the thrashing beneath him, too blind with rage to see what was going on. John was a big guy and, as Steve threw one last punch at John's nose, he knew the alcohol in his dad's system was the only thing keeping him from being the one on top.

Gasping for breath, Steve stood, glaring down at the man on the floor. He'd never hated someone the way he hated his own dad. John struggled into a sitting position, glaring at his son, and holding his bleeding nose.

"Fuck you," Steve said again.

With a final glare, he turned and left the house.

XXXXX

Upon arriving home, Anna had ignored the sounds of Mary-Louise's giggling in Danny's room and headed straight for her own. It was late. Not late enough for her dad to be arriving home from work, but late enough that if Steve came around - and she really hoped he would - he would come to her window.

It had become a bit of a habit of his since the first time he'd done so. Not that she minded. In fact, she loved it. If she couldn't spend every night at his house, with him, then she was more than glad to have him willing come to her house to spend the night with her. Of course, if she could, she would spend every night with him in his bedroom, but that hadn't been possible for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Danny. She'd always considered him more of a guardian than her dad, and she could respect the fact that he didn't want her spending every night at her boyfriend's. He knew that she let Steve in through her bedroom window, and seemed to grudgingly accept it, but he wasn't happy about it. When she'd seen that, it had taken her a moment to realise it wasn't her spending the night _at_ Steve's that bothered him, but her spending the night _with_ Steve. It had taken her a few more moments to realise it wasn't just because he hated the idea of his little sister sleeping with a boy, but because he hated the idea of his little sister falling for a boy and getting hurt.

She smirked. For a big, tough gang member, he sure was sweet. Unfortunately for him, he was too late. Anna wasn't sure she could fall any harder for Steve than she already had.

The other reason she couldn't stay at Steve's as often as she'd like was his dad. His dad just happened to be the same reason she was restlessly pacing her room. Steve hadn't made any promises to come to her that night, but she sure hoped he would. She could almost guarantee that a fight of some kind had gone on once Steve had gone inside and, as much as she knew he'd be just as fine if he went to Soda's, she really wanted to make sure he was okay.

The fact that she wasn't sure Steve would even want her to stay with him as much as she wanted to was no longer a concern. For a while, it had been her main reason for leaving his house. She didn't want to outstay her welcome, or make him uneasy about how much time they spent together, how much time she spent in his room, in his bed. The last thing she wanted was Steve getting worried about how serious they were when she was already madly in love with him.

Then Evie had - unknowingly - fixed that problem.

Despite the anger she still felt at her cousin - and there was a lot of anger - Anna still managed to smirk at how badly Evie's plan had backfired. Not only had Steve not wanted Evie when she had gone to him, but the result of everything she had done had been Steve and Anna coming clean about their feelings.

Anna stopped pacing for a moment, biting her lip at the memory of the night.

Crying about what had happened had never been the plan. God, she hated that she had cried, _again_. It confused her that a mix-up with Steve could send her to tears, but not the memory of Grandpa Joe. She supposed the fact was she couldn't lose Grandpa Joe again, he was already gone. Losing Steve was something that could happen at any moment, really.

At least she had thought so until he'd told her he loved her. Glory, she still found it hard to believe. Not just that he felt love for her, but that he had said it. He'd only said it twice since, but that didn't matter; she knew how he felt. He had told her and, even if she hadn't believed his words, his actions that night proved it.

Just the memory of it made her blush as she sat on her bed. The night hadn't all been as rough as it had started out. Not that she had a problem with how it had begun; it wasn't something she wanted every time, especially against the front door, but she had liked the forceful, demanding way Steve had kissed and touched her. It had showed her just how intensely he felt for her and turned her on in a way she had been shocked by. He'd made her feel beautiful and wanted, even at only sixteen.

She knew he'd hated himself when bruises had been apparent the next morning, but the scratches on his back proved that the physical damage hadn't been one-sided.

Then there was what had happened when they'd finally made it into his bedroom. It had been the complete opposite of what had happened against the front door and it still made her chest feel heavy now - weeks later. It had been sweet and nice and she had known he loved her.

The knock at her bedroom window that she'd been waiting for made her jump in fright. Scrambling over her bed, she reached the window and heaved it open.

"Are you okay?" she asked as Steve climbed inside.

He said nothing, but she could almost see the anger vibrating through him. She watched silently as he paced in her small room, running his hand through his hair before going back to clenching them into fists at his sides. She couldn't be sure, but thought she saw the beginnings of a bruise near his eye.

"Steve?" she asked, more tentative than she had ever been with him.

He turned and faced her. "I hate him, Anna. I fucking hate him."

His voice had been a low hiss, and Anna had no clue how to reply. She had never seen him this angry; not when Johnny had been beat up and not when he'd jumped Ricky at the Dingo. She didn't know what to do.

Steve was pacing again, and she weighed her options. She wanted to go with her gut - and what she really wanted- and pull him to her, hold him. Unfortunately, going on instinct wasn't always the best idea when dealing with someone who had Steve's temper. Plus, she knew deep down that wasn't the best way to deal with a pissed off Steve Randle.

She only had two other options. Let him work out his anger with his pacing, just waiting for the moment it got the better of him and he punched a hole through her bedroom wall, or let him relieve his frustration another way … with her help. Neither option sounded particularly appealing. She might be willing to play rough with Steve every now and then, but she didn't want to do it when he wasn't in the right frame of mind.

No decision made, she stepped forward from where she was still standing next to the window. He gave no reaction, and she took a few more steps. Finally, he looked at her, mid-step.

"What?"

She shrugged, before a thought came to her. "D'ya wanna drink?" she asked, a small grin forming on her lips. "I know where there's a hidden bottle of whiskey."

Steve blew out a sigh, clenching and unclenching his hands. "You do, huh?"

"Ya want me to get it?"

He smirked. "I think a drink sounds pretty fuckin' good right now."

"Wait here," she said, placing her hand on his chest as she walked past him. It killed her that he was still shaking, but felt relief when he seemed to thaw at her touch.

He caught her wist. "No. I need some air. Meet me outside and we'll go down to the lot."

"Okay."

Grabbing a light sweater, she quietly left her bedroom, grabbed the forgotten bottle of whiskey she had found in under the couch the other day, and went outside. She could still see the anger radiating from Steve as he stood next to Danny's car, waiting for her.

"Ready?" she asked, handing him the bottle.

He looked at her carefully for a moment, before nodding and slinging his arm around her shoulders. She didn't know what had had happened. She had an idea and it made her sick, but she wouldn't ask. She'd wait. She'd sit in the empty lot and drink with him, waiting until he was ready to talk.

XXXXX

"I wish you'd stay," she murmured as Steve trailed kisses along her jaw.

He chuckled, and she was glad for the whiskey she had snatched from the living room. He hadn't had much, just enough to take the edge off, but it had seemed to help his mood a lot. She knew he was still furious, but he had calmed down plenty.

She liked to think being around her and the heavy make-out session they'd had might have helped a bit, too.

"I ain't willing to risk anymore run-ins with anyone's dad tonight," he said softly.

Anna laughed quietly as Steve nibbled on her ear while she tried to adjust her blouse.

"I should go," she said.

"No."

"Steve." She laughed.

He groaned and pulled back a bit. "Come stay at Soda's with me."

She wanted to; she really did, but …

"I can't do that."

He leaned back against the chain link fence, glowering at the ground. Anna couldn't even find it in herself to get fed up, because she knew sex had nothing to do with his reasons for wanting her to go with him. She knew that he just wanted her there, with him.

It made her feel disgustingly warm inside.

"It's a shitty time for both our places to be unavailable,' he grumbled, hands shoved in his pockets.

Anna agreed wholeheartedly.

Leaning against him, she gave him a long kiss, making sure he knew she wanted to go with him, but couldn't.

"You'll pick me up tomorrow?" she asked, pulling back a little.

He nodded, tracing his thumb over her cheek.

She bit her lip, before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you," she said quietly.

Steve ran his hand over her hair. "I know."

He didn't say it back often, hell, she didn't say it often for him to say it back often, but it didn't matter. She knew how he felt, even if he didn't say it back all the time. She smiled at his smug smirk and slipped out of his grasp.

"I'll se ya tomorrow," she said, pushing open the gate.

"Yeah."

She grinned, blew him a quick kiss, and ran up the front lawn. He waited until she was on the porch, at the door, just like he always did. Throwing him one last wave, she watched him head off down the street, wanting nothing more than to go with him, but not willing to be as rude as to invite herself to stay at the Curtis'.

The smile on her face was still going strong as she opened the front door. She was late, but she just didn't care. Her dad hadn't yelled at her in a long time and, even if he was about to now, she just didn't care. She was too happy.

Quietly closing the front door, she hurried down the hall, hoping to make it to her room before her dad realised she was home. She only made it past the living room doorway when he called out to her.

"Anna?"

She sighed, grin falling slightly. "Yeah."

"C'mere a minute, will ya?"

She sighed again, and turned, slowly making her way back to the living room.

"What's goin' on?" she asked. "I know I'm a bit late, but -"

Her words died in her throat at the sight before her. Eyes wide and chest beating painfully, she swallowed and stared at her mother.

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**A/N:** Dun dun dun. Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading, and thanks so much for all the reviews, I really appreciate them :)


	42. Fire Starter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Firestarter' by The Prodigy.

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* * *

Monday, July 4th, 1966**

Anna had showered, dressed, and put on her make-up for the day before heading into the kitchen the following morning, despite the smell of pancakes wafting throughout the house. She couldn't help but be worried it was all a dream. She knew it was stupid; dreams like that just didn't happen.

Dreams where, after almost five years, the mother of a family finally comes home. Dreams where the daughter of the family feels completely at ease around her dad for the first time in four years. Dreams where the brother of the family comes home after dropping off his girlfriend to find the rest of his family sitting in the living room, happily chatting away as though nothing had changed in the last four years.

Anna frowned on her seat at the kitchen counter as she thought of Danny. He still wasn't home and she wasn't sure when - if ever - he would come home. She could almost understand. He'd always held nothing but anger at their mom for leaving the way she did; he never kept any of her post cards, and, when they were younger, had always told Anna to forget about it whenever she had mentioned their mom possibly coming home.

But now their mom was home - though she had stressed it was only for a short visit - and the only way Anna could be happier was if Danny managed to get over his anger and come home, too. He wasn't the only one who had been angry all this time. Admittedly, Anna hadn't been as angry as Danny, but she'd still been hurt and she had managed to put it behind her upon seeing her mom.

"So," Jane Harris began, as she measured out some flour. "We didn't really get the chance to talk properly last night, with your dad hangin' about."

Anna watched her mom bake, finding it a little strange to be the one watching for a change.

"I guess not," she replied.

Jane grinned at her. "I wanna know everything, kid. I've missed out on too much."

Anna had to wonder if she was as over her anger as she thought she was when she silently told her mom that she wouldn't have missed out on anything if she had stuck around. She frowned, pushing that thought out of her head.

"Well, whaddya wanna know?"

"Everything," Jane said again. "Starting here. How's your dad and brother been while I've been gone?"

Anna wasn't sure how to answer that one. A part of her wanted to tell her that everything had been great, that they all got along just as well as they always had just in the hopes that it would make her mom think about sticking around. She was pretty sure Danny storming out like he had the night before proved that to be wrong, though.

But then, another part of her wanted her mom to know exactly what she had done by leaving them; exactly what had happened to the family when she had left. She wanted her to know about her dad's mood swings and that he had hit her, she wanted her to know that Danny was more of a guardian to her than their dad was, she wanted her to know that things had been a lot worse than she probably imagined.

She wanted her mom to feel guilty for leaving, and wondered again if she was as over her anger as she thought she was.

"They've been … all right," she finally said.

"I know your dad hasn't been much good," Jane said, and Anna had to wonder how much she really knew about that, "but what about your brother? He look after ya?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, he looks after me real good."

It was true enough. There had been one incident where Danny had let her down, but that didn't change anything. Danny was still the person who looked out for her. He was still her big brother and had done everything he could since the night her dad had hit her to look out for her.

"Good," Jane said, nodding. She broke out into a grin that looked forced. "Now, what about other things. Maybe a best friend?"

Anna nodded. "That's Kathy."

"And you met Kathy …?"

"At school," Anna said, realising her mom really did want to know everything. "We became best friends almost right away."

"Oh. What about Evie? You and her were so close when I left."

"Yeah, well …" Anna trailed off. She still got a sinking feeling in her stomach at the mere mention of Evie.

"I suppose you two growing apart was bound to happen eventually," her mom said.

Anna nodded, but stayed silent. She didn't know why she didn't want to tell her mom what had happened with Evie. Maybe because her mom had been gone so long it was still a bit weird to be chatting so easily with her. Maybe because she simply couldn't stand to think about Evie, let alone talk about her.

She hadn't seen Evie since the night of Two-Bit's birthday. She knew her cousin had heard close to every word said by both her and Steve, but she couldn't bring herself to feel bad about it. She couldn't care less that Evie had heard Steve say the kiss meant nothing, or that she had heard him say it was Anna he couldn't stop thinking about and Anna he had broken up with Evie for. Not after everything Evie had done. In fact, because of everything Evie had done, Anna half hoped her cousin had also heard Steve tell Anna he loved her.

It was doubtful, though. His voice had been so low, so hoarse, so -

"Well, what about a boyfriend?" Jane asked cheerfully. "I'm willing to bet that wasn't Kathy you were outside with last night."

A blush crept up Anna's face as she remembered what she had just been thinking about and what she had been doing with Steve before coming home the night before. She would never tell her mom that, but vaguely wondered if, had her mom stuck around, she would feel comfortable talking about boys with her. She highly doubted it.

"That was Steve," she said, smiling at the mention of him.

"Your boyfriend," Jane clarified.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I dunno if ya remember him. Steve Randle? We went all through school together."

Her mom's eyebrow shot up. "Steve Randle? Didn't the two of you hate each other?"

"Well … I guess." As true as it had seemed at the time, Anna hated to think of herself and Steve as having hated each other. There had been some intense dislike, that was for sure, but she preferred to not think of it as hate.

"How long have you been dating him?"

"Um, two months on Thursday," she said, blushing again.

Her mom gave her a long look. "Am I going to get to meet this boy?"

Anna glanced at the clock. "He should be here any minute to pick me up. His friends are having a barbeque and fireworks tonight." She paused. "You don't mind me going out tonight, do you? I mean, I know you just got back, but …"

Jane grinned and began separating the mixture she had made into cookie shapes. "I don't mind, Anna, not when you already had plans. But I wanna hear all about him before he gets here."

Anna smirked and began telling her mom about the relationship she and Steve had come to have. She told her about the tutoring, the tentative friendship, and about the weeks she had spent pining after Steve.

She mentioned Steve talented hands while working with cars but kept quiet about his talented hands while they were on her. She mentioned Steve's sweet side like when he cooked her grilled cheese - his speciality - while keeping his temper quiet and not mentioning the moods he could get into when things didn't go his way. She mentioned how protective he had been when standing up to Ricky for her, but didn't mention the amount of fights he had been in during the last two months.

By the time she was finished telling her mom how great Steve Randle was - the same Steve Randle her mom had heard her moan about in her younger years - Anna's mood was close to what it had been the night before.

Hearing Steve's car pull up outside didn't curb it any.

Anna grinned at her mom. "That's Steve."

She was out of her seat and at the door in moments. Pulling it open, she ran across the porch, down the steps, and into Steve's arms. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Nice to see you, too," he said.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said, pulling back. She looked over his shoulder, spotting Two-Bit grinning at them. "Hey, Two-Bit."

Two-Bit replied, but Anna hardly heard him. Her attention was focused entirely on Steve and the fact that he was about to meet her mom. She knew her mom hadn't been around the last few years, but she was still her mom and Anna wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. The fact that Grandpa Joe had never met Steve was still something that bothered her.

"You'll never guess what happened last night," she said, almost bouncing in her excitement.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Probably not."

"Well that's a good thing 'cause I don't have the patience to let ya guess."

"I wanna guess," Two-Bit said.

Anna ignored him and kept her eyes on Steve. "It's the best thing ever."

"Well, ya gonna tell me?" he asked.

"My mom came home."

Silence followed.

XXXXX

Steve wanted to pace.

He wanted to pace, he wanted to drink, he wanted to fight.

He particularly wanted to pick a fight with Ricky Bolton. The idiot hadn't done a damn thing since that day at the Dingo but that wasn't the point. The point was that Steve needed to kick someone's head in, and Ricky Bolton was as good a choice as any.

Instead he was sitting. Sitting on Soda's front porch, silently smoking through his entire pack, and scowling into the sky as night fell. He was having to make do with unsteadily bouncing one leg instead of pacing, the beer Soda had given him was all he had in the way of strong liquor, and all he could do to relieve the tension in his knuckles, the yearning to hit something, was to roughly rub them against the denim of his jeans.

"Fuck it," he hissed for the third time in the last ten minutes.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He wasn't sure how they _were_ supposed to go, but it wasn't like this. It _can't_ have been like this. He knew he wasn't perfect, but surely he deserved more than this.

"You wanna tell me what's goin' on?" Soda asked, sitting next to him.

Steve's scowl deepened. "Anna's mom came back."

"Really?" Soda sounded as surprised as Steve had felt that morning.

He hadn't known what to say. Hell, he'd hardly known what to think. Anna's mom was back and Anna was obviously happy about it. By the time Steve had forced a grin onto his face, Anna had been dragging him inside to meet her mom.

Jane Harris had seemed nice enough, he supposed. She'd been polite - friendly, even - but Steve had known she wasn't impressed with him. He didn't know if it was because of the way he had treated Anna when they were kids, or just because he was dating her daughter. He didn't care too much, either. Anna's mom not liking him was the least of his worries.

"I take it Anna ain't too happy about that?" Soda continued when Steve said nothing.

"Are you kidding me? She couldn't be fuckin' happier."

Which was something Steve wasn't sure he could understand. Her mom had up and left them all five years ago, with hardly a word since. She'd left Anna with a jerk off for a dad and a brother who did the best he could but was only eighteen himself.

Steve knew her dad had, for some unknown reason, decided to let up on Anna lately, and he had come to realise over the last two months that Danny really did do the best he could - despite what had happened the night he'd left her with a mess to clean up - but none of that made it okay for her mom to have taken off like she did.

Steve wasn't sure he could have been so forgiving. Then again, he knew there was no chance of his mom coming back.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Soda asked, ignoring Steve's glare. "I mean, Anna bein' happy is what ya want, right?"

Steve frowned. "'Course I do."

"Then why is this a bad thing?"

Why was this a bad thing? It was a good question, one Steve thought was pretty damn fair considering how happy Anna had been all day. But he could still hear her words now - hear the conversation they'd had as they stood outside Buck's after Steve's big win against the Soc. At the time it hadn't meant much more to him than the two of them becoming closer as friends … now it made his chest ache.

"_At least if she came back I could live with her," Anna said. "Or leave with her."_

"_You'd leave Tulsa to go with your mom?" Steve asked._

_Anna nodded. "I might. I'd miss Danny and my grandpa more than anything, but if it gets me away from my old man, then yeah, maybe."_

Just because things had calmed down between her and her old man didn't mean shit. Who was to say he wouldn't go back to being an asshole once Anna's mom took off again. And Anna's mom _was_ going to take off again. She had made that clear every time someone mentioned anything about her being back.

"Well, it's just for a quick visit," she would say.

Anna would still have Danny once her mom left, but her grandpa was dead and Steve wasn't sure her brother was enough to keep her around. Steve wasn't sure _he_ was enough to keep her around. His jaw clenched.

"Steve?" Soda asked.

"She's gonna leave," Steve said, hating how desperate and pathetic he sounded.

"Anna's mom?"

Steve shook his head. "Na. Anna."

"Anna's gonna leave?" Soda sounded confused.

"Yeah. She told me a once that if her mom ever came back for her, she'd go."

Steve clenched his fists, the urge to hit something increasing as he told Soda what Anna had said that night. He didn't want her to go. He might have wanted her to be happy, but deep down he was a selfish bastard and wanted her to stay. Stay in Tulsa, stay with her dad and brother … stay with him.

He'd fooled around with the thought of asking her to stay, asking her not to leave. It hadn't lasted long. He couldn't do something like that. He knew he was stubborn and proud, but knowing it didn't change it. Asking Anna to stay just wasn't an option. As far as he was concerned, he shouldn't have to ask; she should just want to stay.

He just didn't know if she did.

When he thought about it, they really hadn't been together all that long. Sure, they'd both fallen hard and fast, but it had only been - he did a quick mental tally - two months. Was two months enough for Anna to choose him over her mom? Because, really, that was what he wanted. It was what she would have to do if she were going to stay.

"Things've changed, though," Soda pointed out.

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, but is having a boyfriend enough to keep her around?"

"I ain't just talkin' about you two bein' together," Soda said.

He was referring to the _love_ thing.

Soda didn't know everything about that night. Steve had kept quiet about what had happened once he and Anna had made it back to his house, only mentioning the fight and the fact that Anna had said she loved Steve. When Steve had told him that, Soda had fought a grin and asked if Steve had said it back. Steve hadn't said anything, effectively giving Soda his answer.

He did love Anna. He really, _really_ loved her and the last thing he wanted was for her to leave. And he knew she loved him. Glory, he could see it every time she looked at him. But did she love him enough? Did she love him enough to stay?

"I can't see her leavin'," Soda said.

Steve said nothing.

"I mean it," Soda persisted. "I really don't think she'll leave."

Pulling out his last cigarette, Steve lit up and considered Anna's reasons for leaving. Her dad was a bastard who had hit her not three months ago, the cousin who had been her best friend till high school had done all she could to hurt her, and - the reason that clinched it for Steve - her grandpa was dead.

Her reasons for staying were a lot less. There was Danny … and that was it. Steve couldn't - _wouldn't_ - count himself as a reason for her to stay because he really had no idea if he was or not. Letting himself believe she might stay for him would just make the fall that much worse when she left.

He took a deep drag of his smoke, exhaling with ragged breath.

Shaking his head, he looked at Soda. "She's gonna leave, man."

His voice was just as pathetic as it was the first time he said it, but he didn't care. The only other person around was Soda and Soda wouldn't say anything. He did care about what he said, though. Anna was going to leave. She was going to leave Tulsa, her brother and her friends.

But that wasn't what he cared about.

She was going to leave _him_, and it fucking hurt.

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. _Please_ review, only one more chapter and an epilogue to go :)


	43. Baby, I'm Just A Scared And Lonely Rider

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen which have been used for the title and chapter title.

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Thursday, July 7th, 1966**

As worried as he had been about Anna leaving over the last few days, Steve hadn't truly let himself believe it since his talk with Soda. His best buddy hadn't exactly said anything to make Steve think otherwise, he just didn't want to think that Anna might leave and give up on them.

He'd entertained the idea of breaking up with her first. His pride and ego had been bruised when Evie had dumped him all those months ago, and the idea of it happening again wasn't at all appealing. But the idea that Anna might not even leave and then he would have lost her for nothing was even less appealing.

That's why when he walked through the open door of Anna's house and heard the words from her mom that he'd been dreading, he paused in the kitchen doorway, listening.

"There's so much to see outside of Tulsa, Anna. I really think you'd love it."

"Yeah," Anna said with a laugh. "I'd love to travel one day. I doubt it'll happen, but you know, I can dream."

"There's some really beautiful things out there," her mom continued. "You really want to see them one day?"

"Sure. One day."

"Well, maybe when I leave this time you could come with me," Jane said.

Steve's stomach felt like ice as he waited for Anna's reply. He could see her pausing as she grabbed a tray out of the oven, her back to both him and her mom who was watching her. He couldn't see her eyes - had no clue what she was thinking - but knew what he desperately wanted her to say. What he _needed_ her to say.

Instead, she said nothing. A tense silence followed and it put Steve on edge. He'd been on edge plenty enough over the last few days, picking fights with a couple of Shepard's guys, picking stupid fights with Anna when the mood struck, even picking on the kid more often than usual.

None of these helped his mood. Shepard's boys had been goaded enough to fight until Soda and Dally had come along, Pony would just come back with a smart-ass comment that pissed Steve off even more, and Anna would just give him that look; that half frown that had killed him the first time she'd given it to him and every time since. It showed her concern for him, and he couldn't take out his anger on her when she did that.

None of that mattered now, though. What mattered was Anna's answer because he knew for a fact that, if it were bad, it would be his final straw. He'd been a temperamental wreck for three days now … he needed some release.

Anna finally stood, closing the oven.

"I think," she finally said, slowly turning around, "that I'd really like that."

Steve could feel the knife twist in his heart.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth did she see him. Her eyes widened and his closed. Not literally, but all those walls he'd once let her see through came crashing back down.

She choked out his name, but he barely heard her. He turned and left the house without looking back. He couldn't believe this shit. As much as he'd worried about it these last few days, he never truly believed she'd …

"Wait!" Anna called, following him across the porch. "Please, wait."

"Fuck off, Anna," he growled.

She followed him. "Just wait."

He couldn't wait. Waiting would mean listening to her, looking at her … the thought made him sick.

"Steve, _please_!"

She grabbed his arm, and he whirled on her, yanking it out of her grasp. His eyes were cold and hard as he stared down at her. Despite the hurt, confusion, and fucking sadness he had felt at her words not minutes earlier, all he felt now was anger.

"I can explain," she said. "I - I didn't mean it -"

He didn't want to listen to this. He cut her off, his words sharp and vicious.

"Go to hell," he hissed.

He turned again, knowing she wasn't following this time. He had made it across her front lawn and across the road, fighting his urge to break out into a run, when he heard her last pathetic attempt to get him to come back.

"Steve," she called desperately.

He ignored her.

XXXXX

"He left," Anna had told her mom as they stood on the front lawn. "He just left."

She had sounded as heartbroken as she'd felt, but she refused to let it end that way. She understood why Steve had been so angry, why he had left, but she wasn't going to let him leave things this way.

After searching everywhere for Steve for close to an hour, Anna opened the door to Buck's and did her best to see through the haze of smoke and the crowd of people. She needed to find Steve, she needed to explain. He had overheard everything he hadn't been meant to. God damn it, he'd overheard everything that wasn't true.

Of course she wasn't going to leave.

Three months ago she might have jumped at the chance to have her mother come back to Tulsa and offer to take her away with her; offer to take her away from her dad.

She'd imagined it plenty. Imagined the both the big cities and beautiful country side she would get to see. Imagined her and her mom driving through small towns, stopping at diners for lunches and catching up on all the girl talk they'd missed out on. Now she realised how pathetic those thoughts had been.

Now all Anna saw as her mom said the words she had always longed to hear, was Steve. His dark blue eyes that used to give her such a cool, indifferent look that now looked at her with warmth, lust and love. His beautiful grin that very rarely made it past a smirk but had been known to give her genuine smiles. His large, rough, grease stained hands that wiped away her tears and slid so softly over her skin.

She saw his body above hers as he looked down at her, muscles trembling as he moved inside of her. She saw his amazing hair that she was secretly jealous of, the complicated curls that were _always_ perfectly in place. She saw the look he'd given her after she'd found out about Evie trying to seduce him at the DX.

She heard his low voice as he told her nothing had happened. That it was just her. Just Anna. Never anyone else …

She couldn't go. She had wanted to leave for so long, loved the thought of her mother coming back for her … but she no longer loved that idea as much as she loved Steve. The idea that had once caused her heart to jump now did nothing but cause her heart to ache at the thought of actually going.

The idea of leaving Steve made her heart hurt.

Frowning, she pushed her way in to Buck's, looking every which way for Steve She didn't see him. She didn't see anyone she recognised until her eyes landed on Two-Bit.

Ignoring the anger she felt at him for flirting with some girl while Kathy was at home alone, Anna made her way over to him. He saw her heading toward him when she was half way there and she wasn't sure what to make of the look on his face. She really wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he up and left the blonde he was talking to and made his way to meet Anna.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for Steve," she said, ignoring the cold way Two-Bit spoke to her. "Where is he, Two-Bit?"

He shrugged. "Ain't seen him."

"You're lying. C'mon, Two-Bit, you gotta tell me where he is." She knew she sounded as desperate as her words were.

Two-Bit frowned at her. "He don't wanna see ya, Anna."

Anna fought back a cry. Surely it couldn't come to this; to Steve overhearing her tell her mom what she knew her mom wanted to hear. Even as she'd said the words, she'd had no intention of truly leaving. She had said yes, knowing that if she said no, her mom would be gone by morning. She wasn't stupid, she knew her mom wasn't going to stick around for good, but having Anna reject the idea of leaving with her would definitely bring her departure date forward.

"But I didn't even mean what I said!" she cried, grabbing at Two-Bit's arm.

He chuckled, sounding angrier than Anna had ever heard him. "That's so? If ya didn't mean it then why would ya say it?" he asked. "Steve ain't stupid, Anna, he knows what he heard."

"I know! I know what he heard, but I need to explain. I didn't mean what I said. I only said it so my mom would think I was going with her and not up and leave tomorrow morning," Anna said.

Two-Bit looked at her strangely, obviously thinking over her words. "You tellin' the truth?" he finally asked.

"Yes. Two-Bit, please. You know …" she paused and swallowed, lowering her voice. "You know how I feel about Steve; you gotta tell me where he is."

She was as close to begging as she could get without dropping to her knees. Two-Bit wasn't even looking at her, though. His eyes had focused on something over her shoulder and his frown had become a look of … regret?

Anna began to turn to see what he was looking at. She heard Two-Bit say her name and felt him grab her arm to stop her, but she was hoping she'd find Steve behind her so she could explain.

Seeing Steve and Evie coming down the stairs together wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for.

Her breath hitched. It was obvious to anyone who looked what they had been doing. They were both flushed with that I-just-had-killer-sex glow Two-Bit liked to claim Anna had every time he saw her, Evie's clothes were still askew - buttons on her blouse done crookedly - and there was a large red mark forming on Steve's neck that Anna _knew_ she hadn't put there.

At first, Evie had a nauseatingly smug look on her face, while Steve looked completely neutral, as if he knew what he'd done was wrong but didn't give two shits. They paused the moment they saw Anna, though, their expressions changing considerably.

Out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw the smugness leave Evie's face, replaced with shock and guilt. She didn't pay her any heed, though, her eyes never leaving Steve's. The blue eyes she had been willing to stay in Tulsa for had flashed with a million emotions before he stared back at her, showing nothing but defiance and something she was pretty willing to call hate.

She felt like an idiot. The worlds biggest fool. Tears were welling in her eyes and she just_ knew_ every little bit of hurt would be on show. But she refused to cry. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a shuddering breath as Steve and Evie came down the rest of the stairs, stopping right in front of her.

No one said a word. Evie opened her mouth as if to say something - hell, she could have been talking directly to Anna - but Anna didn't care. She still staring at Steve, waiting for him to say something. To apologise, to yell, to tell her it wasn't what it looked like … to just say anything.

He said nothing.

It all became clear very quickly. His silence, the cool look in his eyes, the fact that he'd just slept with Evie … she couldn't even find it in herself to be all that surprised. It was always Evie.

She shook her head, giving him a bitter smile. "Figures."

Turning on the spot, she pulled out of Two-Bit's grasp. She was out the door seconds later, ignoring the looks she was getting from those who had seen what had happened.

XXXXX

Steve had seen the hurt in her eyes. Seen the hurt, confusion, and betrayal as she stared at him. It had made him sick - sick with the knowledge that he had been the one to cause those kinds of emotions in her. It had taken every fibre of his being not to drop to his knees in front of her and beg forgiveness.

Then the words that had been running through his head for the last hour amplified and the guilt turned into the same kind of hatred it had the moment he'd entered Evie.

_Evie_. Just the thought of her made bile rise in his throat. She was gone - Two-Bit had made sure of that with a well placed "fuck off" - but he wasn't rid of her. She was all over him; her sickening perfume clinging to his t-shirt, her teeth marks in his neck, and her scent still on his skin from where he had touched her. He wanted to shower. He refused to feel guilty about what he had done, but he desperately needed to wash it away.

Fucking Evie. He hated her, but he had fucked her and now he hated himself for it. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't the one in the wrong, but that didn't change how completely shit he felt for what he had done. He was disgusted and had to fight the urge to throw up.

He didn't even know why he had done it. All he knew was that he had been hurting. He had needed some kind of release, Evie had been there, and he had known it would eventually get back to Anna. He had wanted to hurt her - have her hurting the same way he was - and an easy Evie was his best bet.

"You gotta go after her," Two-Bit said.

Steve dragged his eyes away from the door Anna had left through minutes earlier and sneered at Two-Bit. "What?"

"She didn't mean it, Steve, she was never gonna leave. You gotta go after her."

"Fuck off I do," Steve muttered. He couldn't be bothered with this shit.

"I'm serious, man," Two-Bit persisted. "She came here lookin' for ya and I told her I ain't seen ya, but she was persistent. She told me she only agreed to go with her mom to keep her around a bit longer and -"

"And you believe her?" Steve asked incredulously.

Two-Bit looked dejected. "Why would she lie, man? If she _was_ leavin', then she got the hard part of telling you about it done with when you walked in and heard it for yourself. She wouldn't have come to find ya if she _was_ leavin'. She wouldn't have tried to explain, and she definitely wouldn't have denied she was going."

Steve opened his mouth to say something, to say anything that would prove Two-Bit wrong. Nothing came out, because for once in his life, Two-Bit was making perfect sense.

Swallowing back the foul taste in his mouth, he looked back at the door, wondering if he could catch Anna but knowing it wouldn't do any good even if he did.

He'd fucked up.

XXXXX

Anna had been quiet the entire ride to her house, but she let out a soft curse when she saw Danny sitting on the porch steps, smoking and nursing a can of beer. She didn't exactly want to be alone, but she also didn't want to deal with Danny's questions.

"You sure yer all right?" Curly asked from the drivers seat.

She gave him a quick grin. "'Course."

She had no idea where he'd gotten the car, and didn't care much either. He'd been the only person outside Buck's that she'd recognised and - as desperate to get out of there as she had been - her quickest way home. He'd been nice enough to give her a ride when she'd asked, and that was all that mattered.

"Thanks for the ride, Curly" she told him, before climbing out of the car.

Danny stood up as she reached him. "What's goin' on?" he asked, looking at her closely.

She shrugged, already feeling the tears burn the backs of her eyes as her older brother - the _one_ person she could rely on - gave her a concerned look. He knew her better than anyone. She knew she was a fairly open book as far as how her mood went, but she could put on a good face when she needed to and it wasn't as if she let just anyone in. She had let Steve in, and thought he might even know her as well as Danny did.

Obviously she was dead wrong about that.

"What'd he do, Anna?" Danny asked, jaw clenched.

Her lower lip trembled and she shook her head, not wanting to say it out loud, not even wanting to think it to herself.

"Just leave it," she muttered.

She went to walk past Danny, but he grabbed her arm, looking at her closely and it was all it took for her resolve to break. She hated herself for it, hated Steve and Evie for it, but she was sobbing like she hadn't done in years.

"Shit, kid," Danny said.

It wasn't often Danny showed true physical affection for her - she supposed he was like Grandpa Joe in that aspect - but he threw his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close right away. She didn't put up any kind of fight; she just leaned against him and cried.

He carefully sat them both down on the porch steps and waited patiently, keeping his arms around her and slowly running his hand over her head as she rested against him. When she would come to think about it later that night, she would realise just how caring her brother really was. She would also choose to ignore his freshly reddened and bruised knuckles.

But at that moment, all she could think about was Steve. All she could hear was the silence that had fallen over the four of them as Steve and Evie had stood in front of her and Two-Bit. Eyes open, eyes closed, all she could see was the cold look in Steve's eyes and the way he had so obviously not given a shit.

Sometime later, she finally calmed down. She stopped crying and shaking, her body only giving off the occasional tremble as a few fresh tears fell. Danny was still with her, one arm wrapped tightly around her and one hand still smoothing her hair. He gave her a few minutes before saying anything else.

"Tell me what happened," he said.

She shifted slightly, pulling back and wiping at her face. "I don't wanna talk about it," she said, voice sounding foreign to her own ears.

His jaw clenched again, and she knew he wanted to protest. Instead, he sighed.

"I gotta tell ya somethin'."

She waited.

"It ain't the best time, but you gotta know before ya go inside." He paused. "Mom's gone."

Anna almost rolled her eyes. "Figured she would be."

Her conversation with her mom after Steve had left hadn't been at all pleasant. Her mom had thought Steve walking in when he did was for the best seeing as the two of them would be leaving in a few days anyway. Anna hadn't been able to believe how completely selfish her mom was being. Steve was hurt by her words, and their relationship had been in serious jeopardy, but all Jane had cared about was Anna leaving with her.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Anna had incredulously asked her mother. "I didn't mean it; I'm not going with you."

"But you said -"

"I know what I said," Anna had interrupted, "but I only said it 'cause I knew you'd leave sooner if I said no and I wanted to give you any reason to stay that I could. Now, because you're unreliable and uncaring and won't stick around unless you're gettin' somethin' out of it, I've probably lost the one person who cares about me and has yet to let me down."

She couldn't even find it in herself to care that their mom was gone again. She had known it would happen and, if she were honest with herself, what had happened with Steve and Evie hurt more.

Danny fidgeted next to her and pulled out his smokes. He lit two and handed one to her. "Tell me what happened."

She didn't know how she knew he was talking about Steve and not what had made her know their mom had gone. She figured it was probably the same thing that caused him to know she hadn't already known about their mom when she'd arrived home - that it was Steve she was so upset about and not their mom leaving.

She wiped her eyes again, and took a drag of the smoke. "Steve," she began, having to force out his name, "he cheated on me."

Properly acknowledging what he had done for the first time since it had happened, Anna felt her heart truly break. She wasn't one to be melodramatic unless it was at the expense of others, but her heart was being torn to shreds.

Danny tensed at her words. "He cheated on you?"

She nodded calmly - hurting, but too fed up to get anymore upset. "Yeah … he slept with Evie."

Silence followed and she was sure she could hear Danny ripping Steve apart in his head, bit by bit. She had always thought that if it really came to that, to Steve hurting her and Danny wanting to hurt him, she would stop her brother. Now she couldn't care less.

Danny sighed and pulled her closer. "I don't know who to curse more," he said, "him or her."

Anna laughed resentfully. "Him, definitely him."

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**A/N:** Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Please review.


	44. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Outsiders or 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen which has been used as the title for this fic.

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Tuesday, July 12th, 1966**

Steve was sitting on the hood of his car, so obviously waiting for her, that Anna had to wonder just how long he had been there.

Ignoring the shudder that ran through her body, she fought the strong urge to run, instead wondering if she could somehow sneak past him and inside her house without being seen. She doubted it; Steve's was facing her and it was a small miracle he hadn't already seen her.

Slowly, so her legs didn't give out on her, she started past the few houses separating them. He noticed her as soon as she moved, and she looked away, unable to look at him. Her stomach felt queasy and the closer she got to him, the more she wanted to turn to the bushes next to her and throw up the sandwich she'd had for lunch.

Nothing about being near him could be good. She could barely stomach the _thought_ of him, let alone the sight of him. Everything about him was tainted; his skin, his lips, his voice … it all had Evie surrounding it.

It made her sick.

Evie had been there; touched him, kissed him. Not three months ago when he and Evie had been together, but five days ago when he had been with Anna. He had been her boyfriend, he had said he loved her … he had cheated on her.

The images came back to her - images she had never seen, only imagined, but always, _always_ made her heart clench and bile rise in her throat.

Steve stood from his car as she came to a stop at the edge of her property. She watched him cautiously - his clenched hands, the tense way he threw his smoke into the gutter - all the while contemplating the idea of ignoring him and going straight inside. She wanted to - God how she wanted to - but she was pretty sure he wouldn't let her. He'd grab her - snag her by the wrist with his long fingers just like he always did - and, truth be told, his touch was something she dreaded.

Something that repulsed her.

Still not looking at him, she glanced around, heart sinking when she didn't see Danny's car. But of course Danny wasn't home. Steve wasn't stupid enough to come to her house while Danny was home. She didn't know the details and she didn't care how cliché it was, all she knew was that Danny had disappeared for an hour or so the night Steve had cheated on her, just like she had known he would. When he'd arrived home, his knuckles had been bloody and bruising and she hadn't said one thing. She had grabbed him some ice, kissed his cheek, and gone to bed.

Just like she had known she would.

Lifting her head and looking at Steve, she felt a little bad about it. She hadn't done so in the days since, but looking at Steve's fading bruises and cuts, she briefly wondered if she should have made a point of telling Danny to leave it alone.

Then her eyes drifted to his and all guilt flew out the figurative window. Everything she had searched his eyes for that night at Buck's was there … but it was too damn late.

She looked away, fighting the urge to fidget, tap, or squirm. She wasn't the one who should be nervous. In fact, she should be yelling at him, telling him to go away. Her mouth even opened, ready to tell him to piss off, ask him what he wanted, to tell him to _do_ something instead of just standing there. Nothing came out, though, and she promptly shut her mouth, waiting.

"I'm so sorry," he said hoarsely.

She frowned and fidgeted, trying to force out the ache in her chest. On Saturday evening she had walked into the kitchen to find her dad sitting at the table, staring at a plate of cookies.

"Who made these?" he'd asked.

"Mom." Anna hadn't baked a thing since walking out on her mom Thursday night.

"Thought they didn't taste right."

Stan had stood, picked up the plate, and emptied it into the trash. Anna's hands had begun to shake. Her mom leaving again had affected them all in different ways. For Anna, it wasn't just the fact that Jane was gone, but whether or not her dad would take it out on her again.

He had walked toward her, stopping right in front of her, and stared. For a full thirty seconds Anna had fidgeted under his gaze but refused to look away. His eyes finally left hers, travelling over her face to rest at a spot on her left cheek. She had turned a deep red, realising he was staring at the faint white mark still visible from his wedding ring.

His eyes had met hers again. "I'm sorry," he had said, barely above a whisper.

Anna had felt a weight lift as she nodded, feeling relief at not being blamed anymore, and the apology. "It's okay."

And it had been. She'd never forget it, but she could forgive it. Especially when he had handed her dinner that night and there had been no wedding ring on his finger.

But now, hearing Steve say those same words … it wasn't okay. She looked at him again, realising it was the first time he had ever apologised to her. He hadn't done it when he had insinuated her mom didn't care about her all those months back, he hadn't done it in the days he had treated her like shit while she had been spending her time with Soda, he hadn't done it when he had kept quiet about Evie kissing him.

This was the first time he had ever told her he was sorry, and it meant nothing.

"Anna." He took a step forward. "Please talk to me."

She was speaking before she had even thought it through. "I got nothin' to say to you."

"Just … I wanna fix things between us. Hear me out, please?"

She shook her head and swallowed back the lump in her throat; she was done crying over him.

"Shit," he swore, turning around and running a hand over his face before turning back to look at her. "I thought you were leaving!"

"So this is my fault?"

"No, that ain't what I meant," he said. "I just - I thought you were leavin' _me_."

She knew that was exactly what he had thought. He had thought she was leaving _him_ and, even as he said it, she could hear how much that idea had killed him.

But she didn't want to do this anymore. She had imagined this meeting more than once, and it had never gone the way it was going. She had thought of all the things she would say to him the next time she saw him, none of which were as polite as she was being and none of which showed him just how hurt she was. Now that time was here and nothing was going as she had hoped.

Taking a breath, she forced a glare into her eyes.

"Right," she said, turning and walking up the front path, knowing he was following. "So, instead of sticking around to let me explain, or asking me what the hell was goin' on, or even not ignoring me when I was calling at you to come back, you just assume the worst of me and take off?"

She stopped and faced him. "Or, instead of listening to me when I was calling you to come back, instead of hearing me out and having some _trust_ in me, you take off and fuck Evie!"

The look on his face was heartbreaking. She hated it. She hated what he had done. She hated everything that had happened. But she couldn't hate him. She wanted to, but - if anything - she hated herself for still loving him.

"How could you do that?" she asked. "How could you leave me standing here, calling out to you, and go and screw someone else - go and screw _Evie_ - as if I never meant anything to you?"

"You told me you would go," he said, and she knew he was letting his hurt over everything that had happened turn into anger. "That night at Buck's after the drags, you said you'd go if your mom ever came back!"

Anna shook her head. "You think nothin's changed since then? You think just 'cause I fell in love I still would've gone?"

Tears came then and she let out a choked sob. Steve didn't say anything. There was nothing he could say and they both knew it. She had said something she shouldn't have and Steve had overheard it, but Steve was the one who had screwed up.

"Ya know what I keep thinkin' about?" she asked, angrily wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Everything that happened the night of Two-Bit's birthday; all those words you said, the stupid speech you made about it only being me, the way I let you touch me … and it was all _bullshit!_"

"No," he said. "It was all true; every fucking word of it." He reached for her hand.

She took a step back, out of his reach, and narrowed her dry eyes. "Yeah, well … obviously I wasn't the only one you were fucking."

Normally, she wasn't one for such harsh swearing, but Anna couldn't let herself think of Steve and Evie together as anything more than fucking.

"You were," he said, voice still hoarse. "You _are_."

"I wasn't the other week, and I ain't now," she said. "Not ever again."

"Anna, please …"

She could hear the pain in his voice, see it in his eyes. Her own eyes lowered and she noticed a darker, newer bruise along his jaw. She frowned again and couldn't help but wonder what had happened, who else had hurt him.

"Courtesy of your brother, mostly," he said, noticing her gaze. He raised his hand to gently touch his jaw. "'Cept this one; my temper ain't been too good lately and I said somethin' I know I shouldn't've to Darry."

She shook her head and took another step back, done with yelling, done with the conversation, done with Steve Randle. Two months of being in love with him didn't change ten years of thinking he was nothing but a jerk. She was beginning to realise she might have been better off sticking to that opinion of him all along.

"I don't want you comin' around here no more," she said. "School starts again soon, and I know I have to see you there, but other than that, I don't want anythin' to do with you."

"You don't mean that,' he said.

"Yeah, I do."

And somewhere deep inside, she really did mean it. She had too much damn pride not to. She might have loved - desperately wished she could go back to how things used to be - bit was too hurt to even consider taking him back.

Unfortunately, it was just going to take her heart some time to mean it as much as her head did.

**The End.**

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**A/N 2:** A million thank you's to RileysMomma who beta'd this whole fic, put up with my insecurities, and is still willing to beta for me :) She's a star and you all know it.

Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed - I really do appreciate every single review I get and I squee like a true fangirl when I see them in my inbox. Particular thanks to lox who has continued reading and reviewing since the very beginning, and also to both sam's (you both know who you are), and the perfect imperfection. Two of them are still behind in their reviews, lol, but all their reviews and thoughts were particularly encouraging.


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